Cats and the likes
by Yui-Mag
Summary: What happens when you have an exasperating rival, kittens, and exasperating rival's friend to deal with? Well, if you're Touya, Akira...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Exasperating Rivals_

Touya, Akira looked up at the sound of knocking on his apartment door. A quick glance at the clock on the wall told him that it was some time past two. A slight frown marred his complexion as he puzzled at who it could possibly be. He had recently changed his schedule, having conceded finally that he had taken on too much. He had _not_ dropped any of the students that he'd accepted previously. But he'd managed to get most of them (those who were at a reasonable stage) to agree to group meetings rather than each of them having individualized study sessions. Perhaps he had forgotten a lesson, a study group, maybe? He doubted it. He rarely forgot appointments and… the second knock was a bit louder. Akira stood up and went towards the door.

"Coming." He called out as he undid the latch. "Shindo?" Somehow, he should have known it would be his rival. Who else came unannounced simply because they could? His rival grinned at him a bit nervously.

"Hey. You busy?" Wordlessly, Akira shook his head and opened the door wider. This movement revealed another young man. Waya? Now that was more surprising. What was _he_ doing here? It was no secret that the redhead had a certain dislike for him, though that had calmed since it was obvious Shindo was going to remain friends with him no matter how many fights they got into.

"Come in." He stepped to the side and his eyes widened as he realized that Shindo was holding a cat carrier and Waya trailed in behind him with what looked like a litter box and other bags. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this. "Shindo?" He started. Waya gave him a grimaced look that was mixed with odd understanding. "What—" Akira was distracted as Waya mouthed to him 'I tried to stop him'. Oh no. What had his rival gotten himself into this time? Shindo had stopped in the middle of the living room and had placed the cat carrier down with a gentleness that was rare to see in the nineteen year old. He straightened up after having inspected what was inside the carrier and then had steeled himself to face the too serious go player.

"I got you something." Huh? Akira froze. "You like cats, right?"

"Shindo, you didn't…" Akira started weakly while Waya sighed and braced himself for an incoming explosion. The expression on Shindo's face turned pleading. That look did little to ward off the feeling of complete exasperation that was boiling inside Akira's chest. Of all the irresponsible things to do!!!

"I saw them," Them? Akira's mind shrieked! There was more than one? Good god. He was gonna strangle his rival and no one, no one in their right mind would find the act hard to justify. "And they reminded me of us." What in all hells? "They would have been separated if I didn't get them and…" Hikaru looked away from Akira's flushed face, reading the tell-tale signs of anger that was about to erupt. He got down on his knees and undid the latch. With deft movement he removed a fluff ball that mewed at the intrusion. "This is yours." Akira found himself backing up a step or two. He shook his head.

"You got two cats because they reminded you of us? You have got to be kidding Shindo." He took in a deep breath, trying to keep calm and rational about all of this since it was obvious Shindo wasn't going to. "Have you any idea how…" A heart breaking meow interrupted his flow of words. "…much work they're going to be? And how costly? You can't just _buy_ an animal and…" Shindo's face had crumpled and he was staring at the little animal in his arms. "Shindo." Akira groaned. "Owning a pet is a big responsibility." Waya had a look on his face that clearly stated I-told-you-so. He sighed. "And how… how could a cat possibly remind you of us?" At the question, the redhead grinned and started to place his stuff down on the floor. Akira wondered how he should take that but was distracted by Shindo looking up and shuffling his feet. A little furry paw streaked out and started to bat at the blond bangs.

"Well…" He started slowly, trying to move his face away from the needle like claws without causing the kitten distress.

"The kittens were playing." Waya interrupted. "But this one—" He pointed to the tan and white fluff ball. "—bit the other kitten's tail and then they started to fight." Akira blinked. And blinked again. "Apparently, the way they went from playing to fighting reminded Shindo of you two and how you are with go or something." The redhead waved a hand at that. _Apparently_ he hadn't seen the connection. Well good. Cause Akira didn't see the connection either.

"That's not all!" Shindo protested. "This one is all hyper and the other one was so calm and…I don't know. Mature." Akira was speechless. A mature kitten? A hyper one? And he was supposed to deal with the hyper one?

"Let me get this straight." He started. "You're giving me the…Shindo-kitten?"

"Well yeah…" Shindo blushed. "That way we'll be together." This time both Waya and Akira just froze and blinked at Shindo who started to sputter. "I didn't mean it in _that_ way." In what way? The question was burning at Akira's tip of the tongue. He swallowed it down as he felt his own face start to heat up.

"You make no sense at all…" Akira muttered, feeling that Shindo once again had brilliantly blinded him with a bad move that had turned out to be a dangerous and most intelligent move a couple of hands later. Now how was he supposed to say no and march the idiot out of his apartment, kitten and all back to the pet shop?

"I did not just hear you say that." Waya was talking to himself, eyes still wide. "I mean who says that kind of stuff? Oh my god."

"Shut up Waya!" The kitten meowed loudly then, sounding completely distressed. Its short fur was fluffed up and it gave a little hiss while cowering in the protection of Hikaru's hands.

"If you're going to argue with Waya, give the kitten over to me." Akira sighed the words out. He'd been beaten. In his own apartment. Sometimes, he wished he could just follow his first impulses and strangle Shindo.

"We're not arguing. But here." Hikaru snapped, still glaring at Waya. "I seriously didn't mean it that way. So stop thinking whatever you're thinking. Jerk." Akira ignored the two friends and looked down at the small creature he was holding. Soft and warm. Huge green eyes looking up at him—measuring him. He found that surprising but it was true. The little animal was looking at him as if to see whether he was threatening or not. Those green eyes held him and he could feel in his loose hold, the rapid heart beat of a very scared animal. He sighed again and tried to wrack his brain for any possible information he may have about keeping an animal. He couldn't think of much other than the fact that his parents had never allowed him to have any. Not that he'd really wanted one.

Too expensive.

The little creature blinked its eyes at him.

Vet bills, food, toys…

Its fur started to fall back.

Too much care.

It hunched back a bit and started to wiggle its little behind.

Constant attention, litter training, wrecked furniture and drapes…

And then it launched itself, successfully leaving the protection of his hands and landing a bit off balanced on his shoulder.

Not fair for the animal that they were gone all the time. Though cats were known for their relative independence…compared to dogs in any case.

A small cold nose pressed itself on his bare neck. All his thoughts that were beginning to sound much like his father's voice left him. Akira froze, scared that if he moved the kitten would fall or would scratch him or… The little claws were digging through his button down shirt. It didn't hurt precisely. But it wasn't—comfortable. The kitten moved a bit, settling itself and the sensation of claws left him. A paw batted at his hair. And then, the kitten made a sound that it hadn't before. It was that sound and that sound only that stopped the heated argument between the two young men. Akira on his part didn't know what to make of the rumbling sound that started softly at first but became louder. It was making the kitten shake.

What. The. Hell?

"He likes you. Knew he would." Shindo had a cheeky grin on his face.

"What makes you say that?" Akira nearly whispered. He was terrified.

"Are you scared?" Waya asked. "It's just a kitten."

"Get it off of me." Was his ever so helpful response.

"Why? It's just purring." Purring. Ah. So that's what that was.

"I've never had an animal before, Shindo! How would I know what it's doing? Just get it off before it falls off!" He glared at Waya's laughing form.

"The kitten is a he, not an it." Shindo muttered while he gently took the kitten back in his own arms. The kitten protested and wriggled out of his hold. He landed on his four feet and then began to sniff around the apartment, ignoring the three humans for the moment. Though every now and again, he would look back towards them or run towards Akira before darting away at the last minute. "So you'll keep him?" The question was more a remark than a question. "We should probably set up the litter and stuff. I got you food, litter box, litter, dishes, uhm… what else?"

"Brush, clippers for his claws, tooth brush, tooth paste and—" Waya was interrupted as Akira started to feel completely overwhelmed.

"Toys. Very important for them to have toys." Shindo added with a decisive nod. "Where do you want the litter box to go? It shouldn't be too far away from his food, at least not the first few days." The nineteen year old looked around. "Over there?" He pointed to Akira's small couch.

"On the couch?" Akira knew he sounded strangled at this point.

"No." Shindo was giving him a long look. "Not on the couch. Behind the couch. Are you ok?" He was wondering how to reply to that question without totally ripping his rival apart. He suddenly felt a warm body knocking into his legs. He jumped in surprise and looked down just in time to see the little fur ball run away at full speed. It came back just as fast and then stopped at his feet, wide eyes blinking. The little tail was waving playfully.

"Mew." Its little paw rose in the air and landed on his bare foot.

"Hmm, well you certainly got adopted fast." Waya commented, taking the litter box from Shindo's grip and putting it where the other had first proposed. "Hikaru's kitten is a bit shy. He's probably still hiding under the bed."

"Oh." Akira responded slowly. He gently got onto his knees and offered his hand at the kitten who sniffed it curiously. Liking what it smelled, its pink raspy tongue started to lick his fingers. Shindo hid a grin at the sight of a wonder-struck and slightly fearful Akira. "Who's with your kitten, Shindo?"

"Isumi." The litter was poured into the litter box and a fine dust lifted into the air. The sound of the litter made the kitten jump and run towards it, tail erect. Waya grabbed for him and very quickly dropped him into the litter box. The kitten's meow was quite indignant. He stayed where he was but quickly started to clean itself, its little back turned towards the three men. Waya stared at him with some amusement before shaking himself out of it and turning towards the other bags. Akira moved to help him, taking the food dish and making his way to the kitchen with it. He heard more than saw Shindo following him with another bag. "I'll do the research to find a vet." He should hope so! Akira nodded silently, filling the food dish. "You're not too mad, right?"

"I…" Akira looked at Shindo and mentally winced. "…yes and no. I really wish you would think things through sometimes. But it was…nice… of you to think of me. And the kitten is cute." He paused. "What would you have done if I had been allergic to cats? Or if this apartment building didn't accept animals?" Shindo shrugged.

"Guess I would've kept both of them. But I knew that you weren't allergic. I mean you teach that one granny that has like twenty cats and you're fine." Shindo frowned. "There are apartments who don't accept animals?"

"Yes Shindo." Waya, who was coming to see what they were doing, marveled at Akira's calm composure through all of this. If Shindo had tried to pull this stunt on him… well, he'd have the idiot out on the streets. He rolled his eyes at the thought of his friend even trying.

"The cat's crazy." He stated. He saw Akira try to hide a grimace. "He's running around from one room to the next." He chuckled. "It's like Shindo when he realizes that he still has ten errands to run before a really important appointment."

"Shut up Waya."

"What are you going to name him?" Waya asked Akira ignoring the black looks he was getting from Shindo.

"Uhm." The go player shook his head. "I get a choice in this?"

"Of course." Shindo managed to look mildly offended as if he just hadn't imposed on Akira's good will.

"What are you naming yours?" Akira wanted to know before he made any decision. Currently the one name he did have in his head was 'Baka' or 'Idiot'. He had a feeling however that they would not be appreciated. He was startled to see Shindo rubbing the back of his head with a rather sheepish expression on his face.

"Actually…" The way Shindo hesitantly answered the question and the way Waya's grin and blatant curiousity made Akira want to take the question back. "…Inamedhim'Kira." A pointed warning glare was shot at Waya's shaking form. The world with Shindo was a very strange world indeed. Akira blinked as he processed the words that had just been spit out an inhumanly fast speed. He'd… no… a kitten had been named after him. If he had heard correctly which he was hoping he hadn't.

"Kira?" He blinked again. A very strange world. For god's sake he wasn't even on first name basis with his rival and the man named his cat after him? His very organized and normal world had been tilted. It was definitely off kilter. He didn't even know how this new piece of information made him feel.

"Very clever." Waya muttered behind his hand that he was covering his mouth with. "Short for Akira I'm assuming." The man was laughing.

"Shut _up_ Waya!" Shindo grumbled. Akira brought up his hands to massage the tension that was building in his temple. "I don't remember asking you for your opinion."

"No. You never do. I give it for free." The words were a bit mumbled and Akira realized that the redhead was biting his hand from laughing outright. Hoping this would placate Shindo before Waya turned his peaceful into a bloody World War III zone, Akira named his kitten.

"Karu." Shindo froze at the sound.

"What?"

"His name will be Karu."

"Ah brilliant. It's short for Hikaru." Waya nodded approvingly. "Get it Shindo?" The redhead rubbed his hands together with what could only be described as a completely mischievous glint in his eyes. "It'll match your kitten's name. Simple… I like it Touya." He turned away then, barely ducking Shindo's punch. "Anywho, we should be going. Isumi's been waiting for us and you have a kitten to tame." He arched his eyebrows. "Good luck." Shindo wasn't given much time to respond or react as the redhead caught him in a head lock and made their way to the door. As it closed behind them, Akira thought he heard Waya say… "Subtle Shindo, real subtle. Why don't you just…" Shindo had then screamed something that was barely understandable that drowned out Waya's sentence. A meow resounded in the background and then a crash.

Akira closed his eyes.

Dear god.

What the hell was he letting himself into?

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_New Roommates_

Akira's first task was to find his apartment manager and explain the presence of the new occupant currently destroying his apartment. He found the older man quite readily.

"A cat, Touya-san?" A white eyebrow was arched as the man peered at him from his glasses. "That's fine. I'll just need you to fill out these papers. There will be an extra monthly charge." The sound of papers being pushed around did nothing to keep Akira's headache at bay. "Will you be de-clawing the cat?"

"Uhm?" No? Yes? What? Akira looked at the older man helplessly.

"Our policy does not require you to de-claw the cat. However, any damage in the apartment due to the animal will be taken away from your deposit. Ah here it is." A paper was pushed in Akira's face. Pet Policy was printed in large black letters on the top. "When you get all the necessary information, please come see me." All the necessary information? Akira sat down in the chair. His eyes scanned the paper. Proof of various vaccinations—feline distemper, FHV, Rabies, Feline leukemia—licensing, neutering…oh my…

"The uh extra payments?"

"Ah yes. We can take care of that right now. Let me just get that other paper."

….…

Akira came back to his apartment, hoping to find some peace and quiet. He managed to take two steps and close the door behind him before a wild fury ran towards him. Karu didn't slow down one bit, just leaped and started to claw up Akira's pants. The young man yelped. It took an incredible effort on his part to not go with instinct and kick the animal off of him. Instead, he reached and took the kitten in his arms.

"No!" He muttered, trying to keep Karu in his hands. "Calm down." The kitten squirmed even harder.

"Mew!"

"I need to get help." Akira muttered. "Come on." He put the animal down, walked to his study and turned on his lap top. The little critter followed him there and jumped onto his lap the minute he sat down. "I can't believe I'm thinking this because it's completely absurd. _But_ you are an awful like my rival aren't you. Exasperating and hyper and taking all of my attention…" The computer beeped at him, startling the kitten. Its huge green eyes turned to stare at the luminous screen. Petting the little animal almost absently, Akira managed to type in his password with one hand. Karu stilled, curling his little body on Akira's thigh. Soon, the kitten was…purring…its eyes closing gently and opening slower and slower each time. Akira had to smile. He continued his petting all the while doing an internet search on the care and training of cats. Apparently a spray bottle could come in handy when training the cat on what they could and could not do. There was only a moment when he started to get scared again when he came upon a site that listed all the plants that were poisonous. He tensed, hoping that the kitten hadn't nibbled on one or two of them while he had been gone. He observed the sleeping kitten, staring hard to make sure he was still breathing. Was he? Gently he paused in his pettings and was relieved to find that the kitten was ok. It had even opened one eye slightly, looking annoyed. Akira didn't need to be an animal expert to be able to decipher what that look meant. He resumed caressing the kitten, rubbing gently below the chin before reaching behind the kitten's ears. Seeing Karu fall back asleep, Akira was able to finish assessing the credibility of the site. It seemed ok. He sighed; he would have to move the aloe and the geranium to places where Karu wouldn't be able to reach. He finally clicked off the internet having learned enough for the time being.

In any case, at the moment Karu was not causing any trouble at all. Perhaps this wouldn't be as hard as he thought it would be. He relaxed in his seat and decided that peace and quiet could be shared quite easily.

….…

Not too far from Akira's apartment, Hikaru was having some issues. Kira wasn't the problem, he was so quiet and so well behaved, Hikaru sometimes had a hard time realizing that he was suddenly the owner of a kitten. No, his issues were because of his apartment manager. The woman had seen them transporting the kittens the first time into the building. She had gone to investigate, missing Hikaru by a few minutes and had found Isumi in his place. She had asked the young man to tell her renter to come to the office when he came back. Hikaru had done so, sad that he couldn't be with his kitten yet.

When he'd arrived in the office, looking a bit worried the women's expression did nothing to alleviate them. The young woman was looking apologetic but firm.  
"I'm sorry Shindo-san. But we do not accept pets in this building."

"But…" The woman shook her head. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, there are several options. You can either find the kitten a new home…" Hikaru shook his head vehemently. "Or you find a new apartment. If you chose to do this, it would be before your contract and this would mean you could not get your deposit back." The death sentence had been delivered.

"Uh…" Hikaru cleared his throat. "Would…would…" The frown on the woman's face left to be replaced with a look of sympathy. She wasn't that much older than him and she'd come to like his cheery presence. He'd been so easy to deal with unlike some of the other renters. She knew from the look on his face what his decision would be. She would miss him dearly.

"I'll turn a blind eye for a month Shindo-san. That's all I can do." He gave her a wavering smile before thanking her and leaving the office. Waya and Isumi were waiting for him in the apartment and looked to him for answers.

"Don't say _anything_ Waya." Hikaru muttered. "I know… I know I should have thought this through. That I'm irresponsible and… god, I can't believe this!" Waya bit his lip. "I freaking pay for this place monthly! Shouldn't I be able to do what I want in it? Within reason?" The redhead had been in fact prepared to lecture the teen. Instead he sighed and went over to his friend. He punched his shoulder giving him a sad look.

"What are you going to do?" Isumi asked. A small black furry head peered out from under his sofa.

"Move." Hikaru avoided their eyes and kneeled onto the floor. Making sure not move too fast or in a threatening manner, Hikaru tried to beckon Kira from his hiding place. The little kitten looked at him for a long time before very carefully darting towards him. He picked the kitten up and cradled him to his chest. "I have a month." He dared to look up at his friends.

"Shit." Waya sighed hard. He scratched the back of his head. "Uh…do you think Touya would take in Kira?" Hikaru's eyes widened. "It's worth a try. I mean…you did say you didn't want these two separated. And what's one more cat?" Isumi shook his head warily. Poor Touya. That boy never got a break. While Hikaru mulled this new idea over, Waya sat on the floor next to him. Slowly he reached out to pet the little kitten. It glared at him for a second before burying its face in his friend's t-shirt. It did purr however when scratched gently behind the ears.

"I think he's gonna kill me." Hikaru moaned finally. "But it is worth a try. For you Kira." The kitten purred louder.

"If worse comes to worse, 'Sumi and I can check with our landlord and see whether our apartment accepts cats." Waya stole a glance to see Isumi's reactions. The taller man held his serene expression like a pro used to hearing stupid and dangerous comments.

"Yes. We'll have to." He then said very calmly.

"But it'd be temporary cause…" Waya trailed off and Hikaru gave him a shaky grin.

"Thanks guys."

"Hey. No problem. Just let me be there when you ask Touya. If you decide to do that." Waya muttered. "I'd love to hear his reaction."

"Ok…"

….…

Akira was a bit frazzled as he grabbed Kira for the fifth time from the counter to put him back on the floor. The kitten was being impossible! Where was the cute little fluff ball that had been sleeping on him only a couple hours ago? And when had he been replaced with a mischievous and curious bundle of energy? Akira had been trying to cook himself dinner. But he found it hard to concentrate on dinner when Karu kept climbing up his dress pants to jump onto the counter. He wanted to investigate what Akira was doing and what a frying pan was. Akira nearly had a heart attack when the kitten walked across the stove, missing the hot plate by a mere inch.

"Why must you be impossible?" He asked finally, brushing strands of his hair back behind his ear. "I'm _just _cooking! There is nothing inherently interesting in me cooking! Shoo…" He tried to wave the kitten into the other room and only managed to excite the furball further. It danced in place, arching its back before running towards him and trying the same trick for the hundredth time. Its tiny claws hooked onto the fabric of the pants. "No!" He grabbed the kitten by the back of the neck like he'd read online. This was how mother cats dealt with misbehavior. Karu emitted a little squeak. The sound alone was enough to make Akira feel bad. "What am I going to do with you?" He brought the kitten closer to his face, cradling him in his hands. The kitten playfully batted at his cheek, the paw soft and warm. Sighing, thinking that it wasn't quite fair that Shindo and now this kitten could see through his defenses like they were nonexistent. He placed the kitten on his shoulder and tapped its nose whenever it felt like Karu was going to jump on the counter. With that settled, Akira managed to save his stir fry from burning too badly.

And that's when the phone rang. Careful to not jostle the kitten off his shoulder, Akira slowly went to the phone.

"Hello?" Hikaru's voice was bordering on hysterics. "What's wrong?" Karu tried to attack the phone chord. "No Karu…No, not you Shindo. The cat." There was a pause. "Your apartment manager said what? You want to what? Shindo…" Akira closed his eyes. Karu took the opportunity of inattention to pounce. He lunged and his little paws caught the phone line. His sudden weight was unexpected and Akira had the phone snapped from his hand. He cursed, the kitten meowed pitifully. It hadn't landed on its four paws like it was supposed to and it was tangled in the white chord. It tried to give an indignant glare and wash itself but failed, tangling itself more. Akira then cursed even louder.

Poor Hikaru on the other end of the line winced and seemed to shrink further into his couch. Waya's hand rested gently on his shoulder, trying to be reassuring.

"Of all the—" Akira hissed. "Shindo, Hikaru!" He carefully extradited the kitten from the chord and grabbed the phone again. Taking a deep breath that was NOT calming. "Shindo, Hikaru…" He started again. "If you expect me to not only take one cat but two because of…" He trailed off. "Just, no. I cannot handle two. If you want me to take the kitten, you're coming with it to take care of them!" Then because he didn't have anything left to say, he did possibly the rudest thing he'd ever done in his entire life. He hung up.

In the other apartment… "Did I hear that correctly?" Waya asked weakly. "Did Touya Akira ask you to live with him?" Hikaru was still too startled with the dial tone to even try and comprehend what Touya's angry shout had meant. "Well fuck. Guess you don't have to worry about finding a new place to live."

To be Continued…

A/N- Thank you for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it. I hope you're still enjoying the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Consequences, Consequences_

Hikaru made his way to the Go Institution with a smile on his face. Kira had been so positively adorable this morning it had been hard to think he'd made the wrong choice in getting him. He'd been so good the entire night too. Curling up by his head with just one little paw reaching out to touch his cheek…it had been such a comforting presence. Hikaru had fallen asleep to the kitten's purring. There'd been only one slight problem. Hikaru tended to move when he slept and he'd nearly rolled over Kira. The little squeak had roused him from his deep sleep in a way his mother's daily naggings had never been able to. Hikaru shook his head at the memory and stepped into someone in the process. Trying to recover from the sudden loss of balance, the nineteen year old did not notice who in fact he'd bumped into.

"Gah!"

"Sorry. So sorry. I…"

"Shindo?" Touya's voice. Oh shit.

"Ah Touya. Sorry. I was in my own thoughts. I didn't see you." He spoke the words out as quickly as possible, not knowing where he stood with the other go player. "Are you ok?"

"…fine…" The other man drawled out, gently brushing himself off. "Why. Wouldn't. I. Be?" The words were hissed out now, the jaw muscles clearly tense.

"Sorry?" Hikaru squeaked under the green glare that was focusing on him. Touya merely sighed. They started to walk together, silently. The one with blond bangs feeling as if he were walking on egg shells and mulling over how to start a conversation with the other go player without starting a fight. He had some questions he wanted to ask but…he didn't know how to bring them up politely. How does one go about asking: Can I really move in with you?

….…

The other go player was too tired to care one way or another, enjoying the silence as long as he could. He'd barely survived the night. Karu had kept him up the entire time, meowing at his door so loudly, Akira was sure his entire apartment building had heard him. That little... He'd tried to let that fur ball in his bedroom. That kitten must have been high on something, sugar high or caffeinated, he didn't know what but it had kept Karu up and running on a LOT of energy. He'd pounced on his bed, batted at his hair and face and when Akira had tried to cover his face to get some peace, the little sucker had made his way under the covers and bitten his nose! That had been too much. He'd grabbed Karu and placed the indignant kitty on its little behind outside of his room. He'd then promptly shut the door. To a very sleepless night. To be fair, Akira had to concede that Karu hadn't meowed the _entire_ night. The kitten had meowed every hour as if testing Akira's patience. When morning had come—too soon—Akira had opened his door to find a pathetic sight indeed. A little white and tan body was curled tightly…Karu's head had lifted wearily and blinked its eyes slowly before uncurling and running to Akira's legs. He'd bent down and picked the kitten up despite his earlier anger and resentment; his heart had completely melted as the furry head butted his chest. That was the only _cute_ and _quiet_ thing that had occurred that morning. Akira had tried to go about his morning routine and had failed miserably. His shower had been cut short when Karu had run into the hot spray like a kamikaze and had _screamed_ when the hot water had hit his fur. The nineteen year old go player had then had to run after the soaked kitten to get it dried before it decided to go and jump on his laptop or any other electrical device. The scene, he was sure, would have been amusing in a comedy NOT in his life. Breakfast had been cut short as well. The kitten had pounced into his bowl of cereal, splashing milk everywhere. Karu had been happy, purring and licking himself. Akira had been beyond angry and scared at that time, dripping in milk as well. He'd read online that kittens Karu's age shouldn't be given milk. He didn't know why though. He'd ignored the milk seeping into his new suit and had started to clean his now hissing and obviously pissed kitten. That had caused him to get multiple bites and scratches on his hands.

It hurt.

A side-way glance at his rival caused Akira to nearly stumble. The man looked nervous about something, worrying his lower lip with his teeth. That usually spelled trouble for him.

"Are you ok Shindo?" He remembered belatedly that the idiot had apartment issues due to his new pet. His question was therefore stupid.

"Uhm…" The blond bangs hid those usually wide expressive eyes. "I'm…ok." Before Akira could question the slight hesitancy, a redhead came into view.

"Yo! How are you two? Have you guys figured out the living arrangements yet, roomies?" Akira blinked. And blinked again. Somehow he felt like he was being cornered again into something he didn't quite want.

"Excuse me?" His tone must have been warning enough. Waya seemed to want to backpedal the way he came from. Shindo's head had snapped up, his mouth hanging wide open in horror. "Roomies?" All three young men had frozen only a block away from their destination.

"What he means," Shindo started rapidly only after a slight pause. "is that you uh…can…"

"Spit it out Shindo!" Akira snapped.

"What did you mean yesterday on the phone?" The nineteen year old had a very weird look on his face. "What did you mean when you said that if you took Kira I'd have to come too?" Shindo added quickly, reading Akira's lost expression correctly. Akira almost wished he hadn't. When had he said that? And for god's sake why? Why had he said that? He tried to wrack his mind to find the memory but decided he was much too tired. He bit off a groan, shaking his head and starting to walk again so he wouldn't have to see Shindo's falling face.

"I don't know, Shindo. I don't know anything anymore." He thought he saw Waya mouth a 'what?! I'm sorry!' to Shindo as he passed by. "How long do you have at the old apartment?" He called behind him.

"A month." Came the answer along with the fall of fast footsteps as Shindo ran to catch up with him. Waya followed just as quickly. Akira forced his tired mind to remember how long it had taken him to find an apartment. He had to bite off a yawn that wanted to escape his lips. It had been more than a month. Definitely longer.

"Hm." He sighed. "Just until you find another apartment Shindo."

"Really?!" Akira spun on his heels to face the insufferable man.

"But let's make this perfectly clear. The cats are yours to train. Both of them! And there are rules!" He stopped himself short of wagging his finger in his rival's all too cheerful face. "Many _many_ rules."

"Thank you, Touya!"

"Many." He repeated glumly, hoping that his point was emphasized but fearing that Shindo would just ignore it like he usually did with things that just didn't go with his view of the world. He ignored Waya's relieved and suddenly very knowing grin. "I give up." He grumbled to himself.

"Hey Touya," Waya's voice beckoned him to turn around once more. He squashed the urge and continued his walk forward. Maybe one day his world would go back to making sense. And when it did, maybe he'd realize what a horrible and stupid mistake he'd just made. Good lord… "What happened to your hands?"

"Shit Touya!" Shindo exclaimed a couple seconds later. It would be a world Akira realized dimly where his rival would not be inspecting his hands as if they were made of glass. A world where that small warm touch would not be sending shivers up and down his spine nor causing his face to become an uncomfortable shade of red. Still, that did _not_ mean he would just succumb to the insanity like that. He jerked his hands away.

"Karu. Your gift is what happened."

And with his dignity intact, Touya Akira finally reached his destination.

….…

"Hey mom," Hikaru hid a yawn behind his hand as he listened to his mom's voice over the phone. "I'm ok. Yes, I'm eating enough. Yes…" There was a pause in which the nineteen year old tilted his head back and rolled his eyes. "Yes. Yes…_yes_ Mom Mmm-hmm." He sighed. "Mo-om! I have clean clothes and clean underwear. Chill out! I can handle this living on my own business…" Well, he winced at that. "Actually mom? I was calling cause I needed to tell you something." He waited for the usual worried chatter to pass. "I'm moving in with Touya." There was a sudden silence at the other end which caused Hikaru to be worried that they'd been disconnected. "Mom?" He took the cell phone from his ear and looked at the screen. The seconds kept on adding. "You still there?" He asked as he placed the phone near his mouth again. "Yeah. Yeah I'm ok. Yes, I've thought this through." He winced again at _that_ little white lie. "No. Nothing's wrong with this apartment. It's very nice. I just…" Hikaru cleared his throat. "I got a cat." When Hikaru winced this time it was because his mother's voice had hit a pitch that just wasn't natural. "Ouch Ma—" He held the phone away from his ear just long enough for the worse to pass. It passed relatively quickly. After all, his mother was a very calm and easy mannered woman. "I love you?" A smile tugged at his lips as he heard the same reassuring and comforting response albeit a bit exasperated. "Awh Mom…don't worry about when I move. Waya, Isumi and Touya will help me. I'll have it all taken care of. I promise." There was another slight pause and this time it wasn't because of anything that was happening on the other end of the line. Kira had made his way silently towards him and decided to sit right at his feet, planting its front paws way in front of him as he stretched.

"mrew?" Green eyes blinked at him. 'So cute! Hikaru thought.

"You'll have to come and meet the cat. And mom… I really meant it when I said I love you."

….…

As Akira made his way to his apartment manager's office, he wondered warily how to broach the subject of having added another cat and another roommate on top of everything else without starting to seem a bit…unstable. He bit off a sigh and knocked on the door, half hoping the older man wouldn't be there. Unfortunately, the man was in.

"Touya-san? How can I help you?" The old man asked, surprised etched on his wrinkled face.

"Ah." How to start? Did the man know of any way to keep rivals at bay? He didn't think so. "It's a bit complicated." Akira sat down in the chair facing the desk. He waited until the man finished shuffling around with his papers before going on. "My—" He stumbled on the word. "—friend can no longer stay in his apartment and during the time where he'll be looking for an apartment, I offered him to stay with me." There was a pause which the old man waited out quite patiently. "He has a cat himself. Is there an extra fee we would have to pay?"

"For your friend, no. Though we'll have to change your paper work a bit, I'm afraid. It shouldn't take too long." The apartment manager pushed himself off the chair and poked his head in one of the many dusty filing cabinets that made up the room. "Your contract should be..." The words became muffled and Akira watched on. "…right here! Now where was I. Yes, you won't have to pay for your friend but for his cat you will. Now, there won't be an addition to the pet deposit that you paid yesterday. However, you will have to pay this monthly fee on top of your usual rent for two cats instead of one. See…" Various papers were pushed his way.

"Yes, I see." Akira muttered weakly though he really didn't. Did it really make that big of difference? It was just one more cat…But even in his mind the argument failed. He'd already seen enough of Karu's antics to know that having one more cat like that would be the death of him.

"Well, in any case…when is this friend of yours moving in with you?" The old man asked, biting the end of his pen as his eyes scanned one sheet.

"Sometime between now and four weeks."

"Ah." He marked something off and scribbled a large two. "Is this friend the one who gave you your cat?" The man inquired, suddenly looking up.

"Yes?!" The old eyes were sharp and under those white bushy eyebrows, they seemed to take on a calculating glint.

"I see." He sat up and placed his pen down. "Well. I've taken care of making the changes on your contract. For the monthly fee, just let me know when he and his cat come so I'll know what amount to bill you for. And Touya-san, there should be a larger apartment opening up soon." His voice was suddenly quite neutral. "Would you like me to hold it for you if it does?"

"Uhm?" Come again? What was that? "No…" Akira started slowly, feeling overwhelmed. He'd started getting up thinking that this little meeting was over and that next time, he'd just send Shindo here to deal with all of this. "I'm quite happy with my apartment. This is only going to be a temporary situation."

"Temporary. Of course." The old man hummed tunelessly. "Still, it can't hurt…I'll let you know if it frees up."

"T-thank you." Touya stammered though he wasn't quite sure why he should be thankful. "I'll be going now." And the young man nearly tripped as he tried to get out of the room as fast as he could.

To be continued…

A/N- Thank you for the reviews and thank you so much for pointing out that one mistake where I called Karu- Kira! So confusing. O.O


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Taking Care of Business_

Akira placed a go stone down while warily keeping an eye out on Karu's whereabouts. Since he'd been studying, Akira had gotten approximately thirty minutes of relative quiet. His kitten had been curled up on the couch sleeping. The quiet had been relative 'cause Karu actually snored. Or at least, Akira thought it was snoring. It sounded different from the purring noise the kitten would make when he was being pet.

Sadly, the little terror had woken up and had decided that pouncing onto the go board would make a good game. He'd managed to startle Akira so badly, he'd felt like he'd had a heart attack. To top it off, Karu had not only destroyed the pattern he'd been working on, he'd eaten one of the go stones as well! One of the white stones to be specific and had made such a face as if to say it hadn't been that tasty. Silly fur ball. That had caused Akira to go back on the internet for more information. He hadn't found much on kittens swallowing go stones but he had found that if they did end up swallowing small objects—as long as they didn't choke and it wasn't poisonous—it would come back out. Though Akira didn't think he'd look for it in the litter box, it was of slight relief to know that Karu wouldn't be in any mortal danger. He'd just deal with the loss of one go stone.

Anyway, to keep Karu out of the room and still try to concentrate had proved to be impossible. That kitten had some powerful lungs. So Akira had searched through the bags of stuff that Hikaru had brought that first day and had found various toys. He had grabbed this little rug looking mat that had a spring attached to it. On top of the spring was a bright red cloth ball. He'd dragged the toy to the other room and had placed it a safe distance from his go board. The kitten had joyfully followed him, batting at his pant legs and purring simply because he was getting some attention. He'd sat on his haunches and cocked his head though when Akira had sat back down and told him in a no-nonsense voice that he could play alone for a bit. The kitten's large green eyes looked from the toy with the spring moving from side to side to Akira and back again. "Mew?"

Akira ignored the questioning meow and continued with his review of the game. The kitten sniffed loudly and then hunched before a bit clumsily wading over to the toy and trying to catch the ball. Instead of catching it, the kitten found himself falling on his face and the spring fly from his grasp. The swinging ball came and hit him on top of the head. "Meow! Phsst!" Karu ran away and hid behind Akira. "Mreow…" Karu pawed his side.

"It's a toy." Akira muttered, looking down at him. "Just a toy." He reached for it and brought it closer to him. Karu back away with a slightly hurt look on his face. "It won't hurt you. See?" He gave the ball a hard poke and watched as the kitten tracked its movement. He waited then, knowing what would eventually come next. The little kitten would become mesmerized by the movement and then his butt would start to wiggle and…POUNCE! Karu went after it. Oh good. Whatever had been frightening about the toy was now long forgotten. Perhaps now, he could get some studying done.

Or maybe not. There was someone at the door knocking. Three guesses as to who? Akira made a face before getting up. He pushed his hair behind his ears. "Coming." He had been so sure it was going to be his rival that Akira just kept blinking at the unchanging image of Ogata-san and was that Ashiwara? Yes, yes it was. Akira bit the side of his cheek to keep from grinning back at the openly cheerful face. It was such a contrast to Ogata-san's current expression.

"Akira-kun!" Ashiwara pushed Ogata-san forward. "We heard that you got a kitten from Shindo-kun!" The oldest of the three frowned and fixed his jacket before glaring. Ashiwara ignored the look. "Is it true?"

"Yes…" Akira looked over his shoulder, surprised the bundle of energy hadn't followed him.

"Kya! Sooo cute…" Green eyes that had been staring from the study's door way disappeared at the noise. They reappeared shortly though, blinking at the two new intruders. When he realized that there was no danger, he started to tumble his way out towards the three men. Ashiwara was on his knees in a heartbeat, arms open to greet the tan and white kitten. "He's beautiful Akira-kun." The man cooed. "He's so tiny." He held Karu up and wrinkled his nose as the kitten meowed. As Akira half expected, Ashiwara meowed back. He watched with amusement as Karu's eyes widened and then meowed again in response.

"How old is he?" Ogata-san asked quietly, looking wary at the sight that was at his feet. "It is a he, right?" Akira nodded.

"He's two months old."

"House trained?" The blond man asked, eyebrows rising higher and higher as Ashiwara and Karu started to really converse. Akira covered a laugh with a hand and had to try a couple times before he could answer with a straight face.

"Litter trained. Not house trained."

"Do your parents know?"

"Yes. I called them earlier." And then came the question he really dreaded. Or should have been if he had had time to think about it.

"What's his name?"

"Karu." As the name slipped past his lip, Akira felt his stomach go cold and tighten in nervous apprehension. Ogata-san however, looked as if Christmas had suddenly come early this year. A scary smile stretched his lips and his eyes glinted knowingly. In the background, oblivious to what was happening around them, Karu and Ashiwara continued to hold their conversation.

….…

Hikaru lay on his couch, tired already from having packed a couple of boxes here and there. To think he still had the entire apartment to do. He groaned and threw his arm over his eyes. Kira jumped up onto the couch. Or tried to. He made it half way and then just meowed pitifully as he slid back down to the ground. Hikaru without opening his eyes just swung his free arm around and grabbed Kira from where he was. As he deposited the kitten on top of his chest, Kira began to purr. Hikaru had to smile at the sound. His smile grew as the little kitten wormed his way to his face and started to lick Hikaru's cheek. The sensation was partly ticklish and partly painful! He moved his arm away from his face and used that hand to tap Kira's nose.

"I'm clean you know." He muttered quietly. "But thanks." Kira purred loudly at that and moved so that he was curled up under Hikaru's chin. When his cell rang, Kira jumped slightly sending his sharp little claws digging though his t-shirt and into his skin. Hikaru cursed and fished the loud cell phone from his pocket. Glaring daggers at the piece of technology that had interrupted what had started to develop as a good nap time, he answered. "Hello?" Rather grumpily, one could add. His tone changed however when he realized who was on the other line. "Touya?" He sat up slowly, dislodging the kitten from his neck and placing the little furball on his lap. "Are you ok? You sound a little…" Hikaru trailed off not knowing whether if he actually gave the description his rival would be insulted or not. The truth was, Touya sounded harassed. He blinked as his rival started talking, apparently ignoring his worried comment. "Ogata-san wants to what?" Hikaru blinked incredulously. "He said what?" Kira blinked large green eyes and jumped off the couch. "Ashiwara wants to come to?" Hikaru slapped his forehead, feeling his cheeks burn. "What do you mean both of them are coming now?!" He took a deep breath in. "How did they find out in the first place?" Hikaru then winced as Touya's voice took on a very obvious steely note. "Waya and I may have been talking about it in the institute…but!" He conceded softly. "Not everything is always my fault! And…" He frowned as his rival kept interrupting his protests. "But! I… Fine Touya! But you're coming with them! I don't want to have to deal with Ogata-san alone!" Hikaru's eyes certainly became very wide as Touya on the other lined threatened very coolly that Hikaru deserved to face the man alone. "To-ya!!!" Hikaru whined. Ever since Touya had realized that Hikaru was nervous…NOT scared of Ogata-san he would always use the information to his advantage. It was infuriating and completely unfair! Especially since, it wasn't like Touya had such a weakness. Hikaru felt himself begin to pout. "Touya…please?" There was a huff on the other end of the line. The muffled answer that came next brought a relieved smile on Hikaru's face.

But then there was a knock on his door. "Hang on a minute Touya." Hikaru muttered as he got up to let whoever was there. Probably Waya. He opened and shut it immediately, recognizing the blond man and the glint in those scary blue eyes in a very rapid heartbeat. "TOUYA! YOU TRAITOR!"

On the other end of the phone, Akira winced and pulled the phone away from his ear. Really! He huffed in disapproval, frowning. "Shindo," Akira started. "Don't yell! It's rude." He paused and listened with growing amusement as the yelling turned into nervous and angry hissings. "I can't understand a word you're saying, Shindo. And really… I did tell you that they were on their way." One eyebrow arched up as he was accused of being someone vile and inconsiderate. "Excuse me!" Akira had to bite the inside of his cheek in hopes to keep his temper in check. "You cannot be serious Shindo. Have you checked a mirror lately?" He snapped snidely in a fit of immaturity that rankled him even more because he knew… he knew he only got this way because of his rival. "Oh very mature, Shindo!" He started counting to ten and back again. "I am _not!_ You're such an irresponsible oaf! Don't you…" Very faintly he heard knocking in the background. Since he was absolutely sure that the knocking wasn't coming from his end, Akira suddenly had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Shindo? You have let them in…right?

"Uhm no?" Hikaru managed to squeak the answer out as he looked at his door with huge eyes! Anger at his rival had already dissipated as it had never been there to begin with. "I panicked. I opened the door and there he was and you weren't there and I just slammed the door shut on his face and Touya he's going to kill me!" The run on sentence that had been whispered forcefully into the cell phone was greeted with silence. "What do you mean you didn't understand that!? Touya just come over already!" And with that he hung up the phone and braced himself before opening the door and plastering a smile on his face. Ogata-san was leaning against the nearby wall, looking way too amused. Ashiwara, who had been in the middle of knocking blinked in surprise as the hard surface was suddenly taken away from him.

"Shindo-kun?" The man asked in cheerful surprise. "Are you all right? You look a bit pale." Ashiwara leaned in so that they were face to face. Hikaru took a step back and gave a strangled chuckle.

"Ah…sorry about that. Come in, come in. It was," He wracked his brain for some sort of explanation that didn't have scary blue eyes, obsessed middle aged blond man who was keen on having too much to drink and… "Crazy idiot on the phone. Couldn't get him off." If anything, his stuttering explanation made Ogata-san's smirk grow.

"Oh." Ashiwara looked puzzled but came in and looked around. "We're very sorry for coming without warning you, Shindo-kun."

"We were just very excited about meeting Kira." Ogata-san stated calmly as he made his own way in. "Akira should be joining us soon I suspect. He said he had a rather urgent phone call to make." Hikaru felt his face redden. "Crazy, huh?"

"Uh..."

"Karu is awfully cute." Ashiwara commented, ignoring Ogata-san's rambling. "What does Kira look like?" Glad for the excuse to get away from the older man, Hikaru started to look for his kitten. He hoped Touya was making his way over here. And he hoped that he was coming _fast_.

To be continued...

A/N- Sorry for the delay. Reality came and knocked me off my feet. But I always like to keep a healthy dose of fantasy and imagination in my life. So I'm back. grins


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_The Cat was created when the Lion sneezed_

_--Arabian Proverb_

Hikaru supposed it would be considered immature to still be whining about the whole Ogata-san incident to Waya and the others. And it would be rather pointless too. Waya found it hilarious and would start laughing so hard that tears would fall from his face. Isumi would try and look sympathetic but would turn away after a moment or so, shaking his head. That, somehow, made Hikaru feel even worse than Waya's outright laughter. Touya of course would just give that pointed look of its-your-fault-and-I-did-warn-you! Hikaru sighed and made a face. Still, he wished he had someone he could complain to that would understand how much that visit had freaked him out!

That man was just…Hikaru blinked…too smart for his own good. He'd taken one look at Hikaru's apartment and asked when he was moving and where? He'd been dumbfounded. There were only, well he didn't know off hand how many boxes there had been total when Ogata-san came. But he was sure that only two or three had been visible from his living room. He'd stammered something or other, hoping that neither men would have understood his words. After all, Touya never seemed to be able to understand him when he got like that. Sadly, Ogata-san seemed to pick up the words that he needed and ignored the ones that no longer sounded like they were from the human language. Hikaru had hit the top of his head on the bottom of the couch when Ogata-san repeated his own words back slowly in a question. He'd forgotten then that he was supposed to be getting Kira out from the couch so that Ashiwara could play with him. He'd forgotten all about that.

"Moving to Touya's?" When he'd manage to get out from underneath the couch to look at the other two, he found that both men were wearing identical shocked expressions.

Hikaru sighed. The thing of it was, it wouldn't have been _that_ bad if…if the two of them hadn't looked at him with sudden understanding. It was like everyone in the entire world knew how he felt about his rival _except_ Touya. And sometimes—even _he_ wasn't sure exactly how he felt. He liked Touya. He liked the way the other completed him and continually pushed him forward to be better. He liked the way Touya was a blend of maturity, politeness, and stubborn rudeness. There were too many ways of describing his rival and Hikaru liked all of them because well… Touya was Touya. He couldn't explain it. He really couldn't. He couldn't even say when the feelings had started occurring. They just had.

He shook his head, trying desperately to cast the memory of a week ago out. It wasn't helping the whole moving process to go faster. They'd been at it since early morning with only two short breaks. He winced at the thought. It might have gone faster if he'd actually finished packing everything beforehand. Hikaru sighed again. Boy, had he gotten an earful from both Touya and Waya! A slight smile tugged at his lips then at that particular memory—not that getting yelled at by either of the go players had been amusing at the time. Hikaru was sure that it was only the second time since the two had known each other that they agreed with each other whole heartedly. The first time had been when Hikaru had gotten the kittens.

He supposed it also hadn't helped that Kira had positively freaked at the sight of so many people invading his quiet home. Or that two of them had come in and started yelling at him about irresponsibility and laziness and didn't he know it was Saturday today? Kira had taken one look at the scene and hidden. It had taken them ages to find him, place him in his cat carrier and bring him to Touya's place. Hikaru gave Touya's closed room a quick glance. He hoped Kira and Karu were getting along. How fast did kittens forget their siblings anyway?

It was warm outside and sweat was making his t-shirt stick to him like a second skin. He dropped the box he'd been holding in the room that would be his and stretched his back before turning around and coming back the way he had come from. He hated stairs. He hated them. If only the place had an elevator or something! Then they could have just packed the elevator full of his crap and voila…done.

He gave a weak wave as he passed by Ashiwara in the kitchen who was busy making them lunch. The man gave him a warm smile before returning his attention back to whatever was simmering in the pan.

"Only four more boxes and your tv!" Waya crowed, running into the apartment with Hikaru's suitcase of clothes.

"Three." Touya remarked calmly, making his way in much more slowly. His shoulder length hair had been pulled back into a hasty pony tail. It was slightly strange to see him in jeans and a t-shirt. But then again, as Touya had muttered earlier that morning to his surprised look, he couldn't quite do the work needed with his good clothes.

"Two?" Isumi gasped. "What in all hells did you put in these boxes, Shindo?" Hikaru opened his mouth and then shut it. Ogata-san walked in along with Saeki carrying the last of the stuff.

"We're done." He commented. "Finally."

"Done?" Touya shook his head. "I think not. We have to unpack now and get rid of all this…"

"Chaos?" Isumi added helpfully.

"…clutter…" Touya finished his sentence while nodding to Isumi. He was fanning himself with his one hand, the other one resting on his lower back. Hikaru decided to ignore them and instead made a motion to Touya's back.

"Does it hurt?"

"Eh?" Touya blinked at him and stopped fanning himself. "My back?" He made a face. "A bit. Nothing to worry about though." Ogata-san came out from his room, wiping his face on a white handkerchief. He spared them a brief glance before heading straight into the kitchen and opening the fridge. In the meantime, Waya had dragged Isumi and Saeki to the couch where they were making themselves quite comfortable. Hikaru envied them. He wanted to be able to lie down too. He looked around for another place to sit and relax for a bit. After all, lunch was going to be ready soon. They could take a break, right? Ogata-san's voice cut his musings a bit short.

"Akira…" The man looked in pain as the fridge door slammed shut.

"Yes?"

"You have no beer."

….…

Akira sighed. "I'll go get some." He muttered to which Ashiwara squawked much like a chicken would.

"He doesn't need beer Akira-kun! There's lemonade! And if he wants some so much he can get it! You should rest! Especially if your back hurts…" It was an amusing sight seeing Ashiwara try to scold both himself and Ogata-san. The blond ignored the younger man completely. At least he was until he heard the last bit.

"Your back hurts?" Ogata-san asked, fixing his glasses.

"No! It's fine." Akira waved the concern aside with practiced ease. "It'll only take two seconds and it's the least I could do to thank you since you've helped us so much today." He gave a small bow in his direction. "While I'm out, is there anything else I can get for anyone?" Ashiwara continued to frown but shook his head.

He glanced to his side and saw Shindo looking a bit guilty. The others, sprawled out on the couch, gave no's and grunts in reply.

"I'll come with." Hikaru muttered. "I can get some ice cream to thank you guys for the help today." That announcement was greeted with cheers and even Ashiwara managed to bring back his normally sunny smile on his face.

"I'll just get my wallet." Two minutes later, they were off. Shindo was so uncharacteristically quiet that Akira was starting to get unnerved. As if sensing the growing tension, the shorter man gave his rival a quick glance before asking a question.

"Was that…usual for Ogata-san and Ashiwara?" Akira blinked at the question, wondering exactly what was usual and unusual for those two. He hadn't exactly seen anything out of the ordinary. Shindo stuffed his hand deeper into his pockets. "I've never seen anyone talk to Ogata-san like that before."

"Oh." Akira mulled that over in his mind and then gave a small shrug. "Ashiwara is protective of me and he doesn't like Ogata-san's bad habits. He's a bit of a health nut actually. Apart from his sweet tooth that is." He smiled at that. "Ogata-san's used to the lectures by now. He just tunes Ashiwara out." He gave his rival another look. "Is that what's bothering you?"

"B-bothering me?" Shindo snapped his head towards Akira, eyes wide and confused. "Eh? No." He shook his head vehemently. "I'm fine. What gave you that idea!"

"You're quiet." That got him a small glare though he wasn't quite sure it was warranted.

"I can be quiet Touya Akira!" And with that stated defiantly, leaving Akira more confused than relieved, Shindo marched into the store. Life would definitely be causing him more headaches now that Shindo would be living with him, Akira thought before following his rival. He gave a small sigh and decided that thinking of his future bath would do quite nicely. At least _that_ wasn't confusing. Nor did it have mood swings.

….…

Back in the apartment, soft knocking got Isumi's attention first. He gave a feeble moan before getting to his feet to see who could possibly be at the door. Shindo's petite mom and childhood friend, Akari stood there. Each woman were holding a basket of sorts containing no doubt something that Waya would proclaim as delicious if he ever got his hands on them.

"Come in." He greeted with a surprised smile, opening the door wider for them. "Shindo and Touya just went out to the store. But they should be back soon." Shindo's mom smiled and thanked him. Her eyes widened briefly as she took in the many people in the room.

"Oh my…"

"Hello Shindo-san" Waya called out, dragging himself off the couch. "How are you?" He gave her a wave. He'd met her at least three times and hoped that she would remember him and be reassured.

"Waya-kun!" She allowed him to take her basket from her but followed him to the kitchen with it. "I see that Hikaru was being truthful when he said he was being helped." Waya placed the two baskets down on the ground and started to introduce everyone, not sure who Shindo's mom had already met or not. They had just finished the introductions and unpacked the goodies from the basket when Touya and Shindo made their way back in.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Isumi had to hide his shocked look at the way Shindo greeted his mom. He found from a glance that he wasn't the only one. Only Akari, Touya, and Waya seemed used to it. "Akari? You too!"

"Hm? I made something for Touya and you. Akari-chan and I bumped into each other on my way here."

"Thank you Shindo-san. You shouldn't have." Ever polite Touya responded with a smile. Waya shook his head at the contrast between the two rivals and rolled his eyes when he saw Isumi look at him questioningly. The redhead leaned on the counter, only half listening to the polite exchanges going on around him. He was deep in thoughts of how many changes would occur from here on out. He gaze became a bit worried as he watched his friend become red with embarrassment and exasperation as his childhood friend hugged him in surprise. His amber eyes glanced at Touya but found only that polite mask…

Really. Sometimes it would just be nice to know what went on in that head. Waya sighed. Whatever it was, he only hoped that Shindo would find his place there. Because if that idiot hurt his friend in any way, well, Waya would kick his ass. Or something.

….…

Later, once everyone's bellies were full and Ogata-san had his share of beer, all of them decided to lengthen their "break" by checking on the kittens. The truth was that no one wanted to start the unpacking. Muscles were beginning to feel sore and people were finding that they were starting to smell from the hard morning's work out.

Akira opened his door carefully, fully expecting his little furred menace to torpedo on out of the room. He'd meowed rather loudly and pitifully when they had first placed the two kittens in there, clearly unhappy with the turn of events. Karu had wanted to be where everyone else was. He'd wanted to talk with Ashiwara…or at least that's what the man had been trying to convince everyone else to believe. When there was no sign of the two kittens and Shindo shuffled his feet a tad impatiently, Akira opened the door wider and went in to investigate. He found the little ones sleeping peacefully on his pillow. Karu was stretched out onto his back, paws in the air with his head resting on Kira's back. Kira, the smaller black bundle of fur was curled into the tightest ball possible, his little paws covering his face. Akira found himself smiling gently as he watched them. They really were adorable. He moved over to let his rival see them as well as let more people in his room.

Ashiwara cooed softly, clutching at Saeki's sleeve and tugging the other man closer. Shindo was whispering to his mother, pointing out which one was his and which one was Akira's. Akari leaned to listen to the explanation an awed look on her face. Akira was surprised when Waya came over to him. The redhead glanced at the kittens carefully and stayed silent.

Karu's ear flickered in his sleep, a sure sign that he'd heard everyone come in and he was starting to wake up. Akira reached out instinctively and pet the little one with a finger, soothing the creature back into deeper sleep. Waya shook his head and gave Shindo's rival a grin.

"Karu even sleeps like Shindo." He mouthed, causing Akira to grin and nod in agreement.

….…

Hours later found Hikaru and Touya in the kitchen, cleaning now that everyone had left. Well, to be fair, it was Touya who was really doing all the cleaning. Hikaru instead had been trying to make conversation. Had been until he'd discovered something that he didn't quite like. Hikaru looked at Touya as if he'd grown horns. "What do you mean, Karu doesn't sleep with you?" Touya spared him a glance as he continued to put away the dishes.

"Exactly that." His rival stated. "He doesn't sleep in my room. And I would strongly recommend that you have your door closed during the night so that he can't get into yours."

"But Kira sleeps with me. And he's going to need to go to the litter box during the night…" Hikaru trailed off. Touya wiped his hands off and gave Hikaru a certain look.

"Well there are three options. One you bring your litter box into your room."

"But that'll stink it up!" Hikaru yelped, shaking his head.

"Two," Touya continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You keep the door open and hope for the best. Or three, both cats do not sleep in the room and they sleep together on the couch." Hikaru frowned at his rival.

"I'll take option two, thank you very much. How much trouble can one kitten be anyway?" Touya sighed and arched his eyebrow.

"Well…" He started slowly. "When that kitten takes after you, he's a LOT of trouble." He ignored the indignant squawk and continued. "Anyway, if Karu gives you problems tonight do _not_ bother me. I've warned you enough times now and…"

"Yeah. Yeah." Hikaru waved the threat aside, glowering darkly at his rival. He was just a tad irritated about how everything was turning out to be. He'd had some idea that moving in with Touya would be strange, maybe difficult at times because they were different. But he'd also thought that the first few days would at least be exciting and rules would be bent as he adjusted to the new place. Hah! Wishful thinking on that one. He'd had another lapse of memory when it came to Touya and his many rules. Feeling more frustrated than was normal for the situation, Hikaru turned away. "Goodnight, jerk." He muttered under his breath. "Come on Kira." He bent and picked the black kitten up. "We're going to bed."

Touya bit off a sigh and shook his head. He turned to his own kitten to at least have someone to share his exasperation with. Karu meowed at him before jumping onto his shoulder. Perched there, he rubbed his head on Touya's cheek.

"He really doesn't know what he's getting himself into, little devil-angel." The purring tickled his ear and he made a face before chuckling. "You're going to show him though, aren't you?" The purring got louder. Was it evil of him to feel a little hint of joy at that thought? He hoped not. "Don't be too bad." He muttered, scratching Karu behind the ear.

Hikaru poked his head out of the bathroom and his irritation all but left him when he saw his rival whispering to his kitten. He felt himself grin and he just leaned there, watching for a bit. Touya could be breathtaking at times, in a way that was painful to Hikaru who was never _really_ sure where he stood with the other. When green eyes caught his, he felt his cheeks start to heat up.

"Just wanted to say goodnight." He muttered quickly. Touya blinked, surprised.

"Goodnight Shindo. Sleep well."

"Yeah. You too." Hikaru made his way to his new bedroom and settled underneath his covers. It didn't take long for Kira to come and join him there, settling in his usual spot. He could hear Touya moving around in the apartment. And the noise was comforting. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.

….…

Akira was awakened by a strangled shout. Heart pounding and breath caught in his throat, Akira was already halfway out of bed when things started to click into place. The shout had been Shindo's. The curses that he could hear despite having his door closed, were definitely targeted towards Karu. There was no intruder, no murderer ready to attack him from the shadows. Instead, his rival had just realized why Akira never let Karu in his bedroom. He fell back into his bed and hid his face in his pillow. Now he could only wait for the meowing to begin…He needed to remember to buy some damn earplugs.

He heard a soft knock. And then another. Akira refused to get up or give any sign of life. He'd told his rival what Karu was like at night. He'd been warned. He was not going to give him any help now. To give the man attention…Akira yawned and nearly suffocated when he breathed in the pillow case… would be to reinforce the irritating and baffling behavior. He turned so he could be on his back and took a deep breath in. He was putting animal training to the test. He hoped it would work just as well on Hikaru as it had on Karu. After all, only two nights of ignoring the pitiful crying had made Karu realize that meowing at his door would get him nowhere. Of course the whole training would have to start again tonight since his rival's arrival had changed things somewhat.

"Touya?" Akira tensed as he heard Shindo's pleading whisper. "Please be awake…" Be strong. Akira thought to himself. Be strong. "Touya?" Ignore. Think—its just natural and logical consequences. Shindo brought this upon himself. Do NOT get up. Do NOT go to him. Do NOT… The thoughts left him as the feet shuffled away from his door. Akira was torn between inwardly cheering and feeling miserably guilty. Finally he settled on just feeling too damned tired. He turned to his side and closed his eyes.

He woke the next morning with his alarm clock. When he opened the door, Karu was sitting there along with Kira. Both were looking up at him with eager expressions. They both made their way around his feet, meowing. Quickly, Karu climbed up his pajama pants. Just as quickly Akira grabbed the kitten by the back of the neck while stifling a yawn with his free hand. He deposited his kitten on his shoulder and was about to continue making his way to the kitchen when another soft meow resounded somewhere near his feet. Kira just waited there patiently, expectant that he would get picked up. Akira sighed before bending down and picking the second kitten as well.

"You two are spoiled." He muttered. "Let's get you some breakfast." He added amidst the loud chorus of happy purring.

A slamming door announced the presence of his rival. Akira turned to tell him good morning but the words stayed stuck in his throat. He'd never seen his rival like _that_ before. Hair was rumpled, eyes were still shut, and a huge, red and irritated bite mark stood out on a pale cheek.

"Your cat is evil." The young man muttered, trying to blink the sleepiness out. Akira moved forward and winced as he inspected the bite mark further. With gentle fingers, he cupped Shindo's face. "Wh—what are you doing?"

"Don't move Shindo." The skin underneath his fingers warmed quickly, blushing dark red. "Did you disinfect this last night?" He asked though he already suspected a negative answer.

"N-no." Shindo managed to stutter out. "I didn't know where it was." The answer was enough for Akira to feel guilty all over again. He sighed.

"I'm sorry." He dropped his hand away and turned to find the disinfectant. "I'll go get it right now. You sit. I have breakfast ready for you." He left the room then and Shindo looked a bit lost, eyes suddenly wide open. He was still standing there when Akira came back. And it was only when his rival gently pushed him towards the table that he moved.

"Touya I can—" But his words trailed off as those long fingers started to massage antiseptic cream into the bite wound. "Ouch." Shindo winced.

"Shindo?" Akira asked slowly. "What exactly happened last night? I mean…Karu bit my nose the first night but it was a little bite. Not anything like this." Shindo made a face.

"I'm a sound sleeper I guess. He needed a harder bite to get my attention. I really have no idea." Realizing that he was rambling, Shindo blushed and tried to shut up.

"Oh." There was the sound of paper rustling and then Akira carefully placed a band aid on his rival's cheek. "I'm sorry again."

"You didn't bite me. He did." Shindo pointed. "Anyway," The man continued grudgingly. "You did warn me."

"Hm." Akira smiled. He moved away then, shaking his head. "I don't make it a habit of biting rivals, Shindo." Shindo blinked at that and just stared for the longest time. And then a single thought came to his head…he wouldn't have minded it half as much if it had been Touya. His face turned beet red then.

And stayed that way the entire day—much to the confusion of those around him.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Curiosity Killed the Cat_

_Part one of the English Proverb_

Hikaru jumped over the battling kittens only sparing them a quick glance of amusement as he ran towards his rival's awaiting form.

"Shouldn't we separate them?" Touya asked, green eyes watching the kittens anxiously.

"Nah. They're alright. They're just playing." Hikaru answered, waving the worry away. "They do this all the time."

"Yes but…" Touya was interrupted as Kira meowed pitifully and loudly, Karu having bitten him rather hard on the ear. The black kitten tried to shake the white and orange kitten off of him, his tiny paw shoving at Karu's face. "That's enough Karu!" Hikaru watched as Touya descended on the kittens way too fast to his liking. The other man made him feel slow and old.

Kira was suddenly hidden in Touya's hands, fur being soothed as Karu was being lectured, a finger being shaken in his face. "If you can't be nice you're going to go back into your room." Karu squinted his eyes, his little ears flattening on his head and he had the distinct air of an ashamed little boy. The young man tsk-ed and then brought Kira up to his face, inspecting the purring black furred body. The little kitten wriggled in his hands wanting to get closer, making Touya smile. "Hold still." He stated gently. He inspected the injured ear and sighed finding a small drop of blood. "Oh Kira," The young man sighed, bringing the kitten to his chest in a comforting manner. Kira snuggled immediately into the dress shirt, eyes closing softly. Hikaru came closer, awed again by Touya's instinctive parenting. It made his mind spin. Sometimes he felt like he was watching a father and two children rather than his rival and two kittens.

Only a couple of days had passed since he'd moved here but already the four of them had settled into a rather comfortable routine. The rivals lived, played, and bickered with each other just like the kittens did. Kira was rather more calm than Karu to say the least, resembling his human counterpart. Where Karu broke vases, scratched up the furniture, and played so hard with his toys until they resembled little more than fluff, Kira was gentle and happy to curl up and watch what was going on around him. That is until Karu—tired of being reprimanded and placed in time-out—would turn all his attention on Kira and pounce on him. The two would then usually be found rolling around on the floor biting and swatting at each other. They could also be found grasping each other with their front paws while trying to kick each other with their back legs. Hikaru always thought the sight was hilarious. Touya never did and usually tried to separate the two.

"Is he actually hurt?" Hikaru asked making sure to avoid stepping on Karu who was now sitting on his haunches looking up. His heart went out to the little hyperactive bundle of energy. Karu's green eyes were focused on Touya alone and he gave a soft meow before patting Touya's foot with his paw. Touya spared him a stern glance before nodding to his rival. Hikaru wondered at times if Touya realized how attached Karu was and how intensely possessive he could be. He'd noticed in the couple days that they'd been here that a lot of the fights started between the two kittens when Karu spotted Kira getting Touya's attention. Especially when this little one was coming out of his now daily time-outs. Hikaru reached for his own kitten, protective streak being ignited and made a mental note to share his observations with his rival at a later time. Touya gave him up readily enough and Kira was soon snuggling under his chin. Karu meowed again, a bit louder.

"You." Touya started. He picked up the little guy before it started climbing up his pants and brought him up so that they were face to face. "You need to be more careful." At the new meow, Touya shook his head and placed Karu on his shoulder. "Anyway," His rival started. "Did you find the paper, Shindo?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I did." Hikaru started belatedly. "They needed their second de-worming shot yesterday." He shook his head to get his bangs out of his face. "I called the pet store and they said they would still do it today for free. They close in three hours."

"Might as well go then. We can get something for Kira's ear there as well." Hikaru nodded; he hadn't thought that but it made a lot of sense.

"I'll do the research for a vet when get back. I swear." He followed Touya quietly as they found their prospective cat carriers and got ready.

….…

The pet store was smaller than he had imagined it to be. Or at least the outside was, his perspective changed as Shindo opened the door and slipped in. A bell chimed as they made their way in and he gave it a glance before going back to looking at his surroundings. There were aquariums of all shapes and sizes on the one side of the store filled with fish, snakes, amphibians, lizards and Akira suspected with slight horror, even some spiders. And were those crickets? The smell of animals hit him full force as he followed his rival deeper into the store. There were black beady eyes staring at him from glass panes with tiny little clawed paws scratching at the smooth surface. They looked like rats but were smaller and chubbier. He could only imagine his mother's reaction if she ever came across these creatures. One moved furtively and he realized that they had little to no tail. His curiosity was definitely piqued and he wondered if they'd have time to look at them more closely. There were aquariums with rats and mice in them and ferrets as well. The smell grew when they neared them and Akira felt like sneezing. The smell was slightly unpleasant. Aquariums blended into cages. Movement in the cat carrier tugged at his arm muscles as Karu suddenly went forward until his little face was pressed at the opening. He meowed silently, eyes wide. Akira made sure to re-balance the carrier as he brought it closer to his face. He spoke lowly to his pet, hoping that the sound of his voice would be comforting.

Karu pressed his face harder into the metal door, meowing pathetically. He wanted out of the carrier and into Akira's arms where it was safe and warm. With his free hand, Akira gently scratched the forehead with the one finger that passed through one of the many door holes. He hated it when Karu made that sort of noise. It always tore at his heart. He sighed and wondered when exactly the little creature had won over his heart so thoroughly that he couldn't imagine his life without him. Even at his most exasperated, Akira couldn't stay angry at Karu long enough to make his point clear. Karu suddenly yanked his head back and hid in the back of his cage. Akira looked up and around, spotting the problem right away. There were cages with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits surrounding them from every corner and at the very end of the store, was the desk. Hikaru was already there, his cat carrier resting on the counter. The owner was peering intently inside the cage and then came out Kira more unwillingly than willing.

"De-worming is it?" The woman asked gently, making sure Kira's little toes did not hold on to the carrier as he desperately tried to stay within its confines. He meowed indignantly and Karu echoed his meow from the back of his carrier. "Oh don't worry little one. You're next." She nodded towards Karu. Akira doubted that this announcement had any calming affect whatsoever on the kitten. "You may look around the store while I take care of these two. It'll just take a couple of minutes." Akira hadn't had any intentions of leaving his charge but Shindo grabbed his hand. In the split second where he was surprised at the contact, he was pulled to the other side of the store.

"What do you think will work on Kira's ear?" Shindo asked. The man had yet to release his hand.

"Uhm, Shindo…" Akira started tentatively.

"Hmm?" Shindo blinked at him innocently, letting his hand go. "What is it? Is there something wrong?"

"No." He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong." He bent down to look at the variety of cat products before them. "I just don't know anything about all of this." He sneaked a peek behind him at the desk. "Don't you think we should just ask her?"

"Eh." Shindo shrugged. "It's gotta be some sort of antiseptic for cats. She didn't seem to be too worried when I mentioned the bite to her." He continued to scan the shelf and then made a noise of triumph. "Look at this! Here's an antiseptic and here's another one for the claws, just in case we cut them too short." He straightened up in one fluid motion and held out his free hand for Akira to take it. Without a thought, Akira took it. Shindo looked at him thoughtfully. "Maybe she knows a good vet around town."

"Trying to get out of doing research, Shindo?" The young man laughed at the attack, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah, no fair. You know me too well."

"Young man! Young man!" The woman called out. The two of them turned as one to face her. Her wrinkled face broke into a gentle smile. "They're ready to go home, I think."

"Thank you!"

….…

"I called the vet Touya!" Hikaru called out from his room. He was feeling lazy and didn't want to move from his chair near his desk. He leaned his head back and waited a couple of minutes, confident that his rival would soon appear at his doorway. Touya despised shouting from room to room. The little fact cracked Hikaru up each time, especially during their post-game conversations when Touya _was_ yelling. Right on time, Touya knocked on the open door making Hikaru roll his eyes. "Tou-_ya,_" Hikaru sighed. "If the door is open you don't have to knock. Just come in." His rival ignored the comment and made his way in, two kittens following him. Kira sped up and at a run, leaped onto his lap. He scratched his kitten behind the ears.

"And?" Touya prompted finally.

"We have an appointment for tomorrow. After both of our games." Hikaru added. "Seems nice. Woman. Uhm…yeah. That's it." Touya arched a fine eyebrow.

"And you had to yell at me throughout the apartment for that?" Hikaru grinned.

"Didn't wanna move and you don't come in here nearly enough." The teasing was either ignored or totally went over his rival's head. In the end, it didn't really matter as the outcome was the same. Touya gave a slightly irritated sigh.

"Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes."

….…

"Please enlighten me," Waya started, keeping a wary eye on Touya Akira. "What the heck is wrong with him?" He nodded in the pro's direction. Hikaru followed the movement and smirked as he saw his rival once again pacing the hallways.

"First vet appointment." The announcement did little to help Waya.

"And…?"

"And he's nervous for his baby. I don't know. Ask him." Isumi snorted in his coffee and coughed a couple of times before looking incredulously from Hikaru to Touya. It didn't seem like Hikaru was yanking their chain but still. This was Touya they were talking about. The dragon of the go world whose intensity alone warned people away from him. Waya was squinting at Touya and shook his head, folding his arms on his chest.

"You're serious." The older of the three muttered weakly. "Why is he nervous? It's just a check up, right?" Hikaru sighed.

"I made the mistake of telling him that they'd be receiving some vaccines."

"And…?" Waya felt like he was repeating himself. An anxious Touya was unnerving him. "What's the big deal? Didn't they get a shot yesterday?" The ½ bleached head shook.

"A de-worming shot." He tried to clarify. "Not necessarily a shot. They basically give the cats syrup in what looks like a syringe. It's not though."

"Ok." Waya muttered under his breath. They stayed silent for a few more minutes until Waya sat up abruptly. "Enough is enough." He stepped away from the table. "Oy Touya!" Hikaru watched, vaguely amused. "Get your ass over here." A couple of gasps rang out throughout the go institute. No one had ever addressed Touya like that! Not even Hikaru dared to curse in the building though he'd been tempted a few times. Touya turned around and faced the older boy, an irritated look on his face. As soon as he was close enough, the redhead looped an arm around his neck and dragged the taller player bodily to the table. "Sit down and relax. You're giving me an ulcer just looking at you." He shoved him in the chair he'd been sitting in previously and sat in the one next to it, glaring at the boy as if daring him to protest. Surprisingly, Touya didn't. He just smoothed his suit out with his long pale hands. Apparently having his rival move in with him had won him a couple of points in Waya's book. He vaguely wondered whether it would be the death of him. It certainly gave him a heart attack whenever the redhead acknowledged his presence with something other than a glare or mumbled curse. "They'll be ok, you know that right? They probably won't even leave your sight for the entire visit." Touya looked up, a slight blush only now coming to paint his cheeks. Now he wasn't just embarrassed by his behavior, he was ashamed of his not so flattering thoughts. Waya was trying to help him?

"I know I'm being silly." He whispered, green eyes staring off to the side. Hikaru lost all trace of amusement. Damn the man for making his heart suddenly ache like that.

"You're not silly." He muttered, scooting his chair closer to his rival. He grabbed the hand. The simple contact came easier to him since he'd moved in with his rival. He hesitated before blurting out the rest of what he was thinking. He knew it was only the four of them though and that out of the four, Waya and Isumi knew about his feelings for his rival. The others in the hallway wouldn't hear him... He debated a bit longer before giving the hand a squeeze. "You're being adorable."

Even Waya nodded solemnly and no one cracked a smile as Touya ducked his head, blushing a darker red. Hikaru did wince however when Touya's shoe connected with his shin.

….…

Hikaru looked at the sleeping kitten in Touya's arms. The two of them were resting on the couch, glad that the appointment was done and over with. Both kittens had gotten vaccines and had made very heartbreaking noises at the treatment. They had recovered faster than their masters however with Kira already eating a couple feet away from them and Karu...well…He shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe he's a girl." Touya glanced up at the words and smiled, his face softer and more relaxed than it had been the entire day.

"Yes. _She_ is." He stroked her head gently, not waking her up at all. A small ear twitched and then the little face turned towards the touch. If cats could smile, this one would have the biggest one. "Is there something _you_ want to share with me?"

"Eh? What do you mean?" Hikaru asked, his mind still stuck on the girl kitten instead of boy kitten. Touya's mischievous smile and arched eyebrow should have warned him off.

"Well Karu is you in kitten form." His tone was light and deceptively bland. "So, I ask again, is there something you want to share?" Hikaru frowned, puzzled at first before it dawned on him.

"I'm no girl!" He yelped. Before he could protest further and more loudly at that, strong fingers pressed against his lip.

"_She's_ sleeping." Touya went on amused. "I'm glad you're so convinced about your own gender. However, you were rather convinced about Karu's as well. Maybe you should pay a visit to the vet. A rather intelligent and competent woman." Hikaru glared at his rival. This was low. Especially after having been nice to him this afternoon and _not _teasing him about his anxiety. The fingers were still at his lips. An idea formed at the back of his head. If he couldn't yell… He opened his mouth slightly and bit the tips of those fingers. Not hard but still putting enough pressure to get the point across. He only hoped he wasn't crossing too many boundaries today and pushing either of them past their comfort zones. The effect was instantaneous. "Shindo!" He'd never heard his rival sound this scandalized before. It was amazing that he hadn't jumped off the couch already and started lecturing him. Hikaru forced his own heart to calm down, once he realized Touya wasn't going to hit him or leave or anything like that. Maybe it helped that Karu had stayed in his arms throughout the little scene. The piercing glare was the normal rival-I'm going to kick your ass at our next game. Good. "You're impossible." The man gritted out. Karu meowed crankily, one eye cracked open while the other remained closed.

"And you're an idiot." Hikaru bantered back.

"Says you, which doesn't add up to too much."

"To-ya… you're being mean today!" The last was ignored and Karu settled back to sleep as Kira jumped up and took his usual spot on Hikaru's lap. Kira's gender at least had remained the same though Hikaru thought with a slight grimace, the little fact only increased Touya's amusement with the entire situation.

"You do realize this complicates things just a bit." Hikaru shrugged, busy petting his kitten into purring oblivion. "A male cat and a female one, Shindo? Think a bit." The young man sighed. "I refuse to have any more kittens."

"Why are you even worrying about it now?" He asked with a groan. "They're too young to even think about doing anything like _that_." And boy wouldn't that be weird if Karu and Kira had kittens. Let's not even go there, Hikaru shook his head, on the verge of being thoroughly disturbed.

"They reach their sexual maturity around four or five months depending on their sex. They're already a month and a half!"

"Really? That early? Jeez…" He passed a hand over his eyes. "That does complicate things." It was hard to believe the little fluff balls would grow up that fast. He'd miss them being so small and cuddly.

"We'll have to get them neutered and/or spayed the minute it's do-able." Hikaru winced at the thought of that.

"Awh man. Poor Kira."

"I've been told its worse for the females." Touya stated calmly.

"Where do you get all this information?" Hikaru finally asked. "You can't just know all of this stuff. And actually…don't answer. I can see it on your face that you're just going to make me regret ever asking. I don't need to know." His rival sniffed at that but kept quiet. "Ok. So I agree with you on the subject. I don't think I could handle more than two of these guys anyway. And I don't wanna see what Karu would be like when PMS-ing." He paused and ignored the strange look he was currently on the receiving end. "I also can't see myself as a dad."

"Mother." Touya corrected. "Kira would be the dad."

"You know what I meant! Anyway, it's not like I _am_ Karu. She was just named after me. There's a difference." Touya chuckled softly and nodded.

"Glad you realize it." Hikaru rolled his eyes in response and let himself sink deeper into the couch. He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds and then turned to Touya.

"You'll make a good dad." The words seemed to make his rival uncomfortable. The green eyes suddenly focused on Karu and the silence that descended upon the room felt heavy. Hikaru frowned. What had he said that would cause this?

"I don't think," Touya started gently. "that I'll ever be a father." The voice was gentle, pensive even.

"Eh? Why? You're great with kids!" And Hikaru wasn't talking about just the kittens here. He'd noticed over the years, that younger children seemed to gravitate towards his rival whenever they were doing an exhibition or something. It had never made any sense to him before but now…Why did Touya look so sad?

"It just wouldn't be fair to them." Wh-what? Hikaru blinked feeling like he'd missed the conversation completely despite being the one who had started it. He wanted to ask and yet couldn't. Touya shook his head and carefully moved Karu so that she was cradled against his shoulder, her back being held firmly into place with his one hand. "How does take-out sound?"

"F-fine." Hikaru stammered weakly as he watched the man walk into the kitchen. Maybe Isumi would understand the meaning behind the words better. Maybe…

A/N- Another chapter done! Yay! Hope you guys are still enjoying the fic. I'll try and update as soon as I can.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Satisfaction Brought Him Back_

—_Part two of an English proverb _

A yawning Shindo made his way to the kitchen and rested his chin on Akira's shoulder. Akira jumped at the unexpected touch and glared at his rival who was now glaring right back at him. Shindo was rubbing his chin.

"Ow!" He moaned. "What was that for?"

"I could be asking _you_ the same thing." Akira muttered pointedly. "You startled me. I didn't know you were up and…" Akira trailed off. The truth was even if he had known his rival was up and about; he wouldn't have expected the other to do something like that. It was rather disconcerting at times the way Shindo acted towards him since he'd moved here; the little touches here and there. Holding his hand, brushing against his shoulder as they walked back home, flicking his hair back during games at home only…Shindo had even bit him once! He supposed he _may_ have deserved that one a little bit. But then again no. Who in their right minds would go and bite people simply because they were being kept quiet!

So much had changed and yet so little had between the two of them.

Shindo pouted still fingering his chin. "I'm ti-ired." He whined. "I just wanted to rest still." He sighed.

"The couch is there." Akira pointed to it vaguely, determined to keep his eyes away from Shindo's sleepy ones. Karu meowed at the moving hand, coming to bat at it. "And you behave. You already had your breakfast." Akira managed to escape getting scratched and saved the breakfast from burning. He placed the steaming food onto the table, surprised to find that Shindo was already sitting in his usual place, still pouting. "I thought you'd be on the couch, resting."

"My chin's sore." Shindo grumbled. "Your shoulder is bony." Akira didn't know how to respond to that comment and didn't bother to spare it anymore thought. Instead he filled the other boy's plate before filling his own. Shindo thanked him softly and caught Karu in mid jump. "Not on the table Karu. You know better." Kira made his way in, large blue eyes blinking at the scene before giving a small meow. Karu responded to it, wiggling out of Shindo's loose hold. Akira gave a small smile as he watched sister and brother sniff at each other's face. Kira looked away first, coming to sit primly underneath Shindo's chair. Karu blinked at his departure before deciding that pawing at her brother's tail could keep her occupied while the humans ate.

"I can cook you know." Shindo started, swallowing the last of his meal. "You definitely cook better. But I can still manage to make a decent meal." Akira took the news and managed not to shake his head. Waya's face the one other time Shindo had brought his culinary skills up had been sufficient warning by his book.

"I never doubted it." He pointed out carefully. "You survived while living on your own which should speak for itself." 'Or to Shindo's iron stomach and questionable taste buds.' He sipped his tea. Shindo watched him for a bit, chewing on his bottom lip.

"I just feel bad."

"Don't. I enjoy cooking and I'm usually up before you." Not usually. Always. "In any case, we already split up the other chores when you first moved in." Shindo nodded cautiously and then gave him a suspicious look.

"Did Waya tell you stories about my cooking? Cause it really wasn't my fault he got food poisoning that one time." Akira should have waited until the conversation was over before trying to finish his tea. He choked on the hot liquid in surprise. "Ack!" Shindo yelped as he jumped from his chair to avoid being spat upon. Kira and Karu shot out from where they'd been and ran to hide in the other room. "You ok?" He asked amidst the coughing. Akira would have glared at him if he'd been able to but at the moment was more concerned with breathing. The other started to hit him in the back. Confound the man! Had he never been taught that doing such actions did nothing!

"Stop that!" He managed to hiss out between coughing and gasping air into his aching lungs. He tried to move away from his rival. "I mean," He coughed again and banged his knee on the top of the table, making his eyes water. "Shindo, I mean it!" He snapped finally.

"Jeez! Ok! Ok! Now I definitely know you're not dying on me…" Shindo moved away and scratched the back of his head. "You sure you're ok?"

"Fine." Akira managed to gasp while shooing him away with one hand. "Just need water."

"I'll get it for you."

It was just another regular morning in their apartment even _with_ Shindo's bizarre behavior.

……

"Shindo?" Akira's voice was slightly rough and it was sore from this morning's previous episode. "What are you wearing?" He asked his roommate carefully. It was their one day off before another hectic week and both had agreed to just spend a day relaxing. Not necessarily in each other's company but Akira was loath to go outside. He much preferred the privacy of his home and it seemed, so did Shindo.

"Uhm." He watched as his rival assessed himself with a puzzled expression. "They're called sweatpants Touya." The other snorted before looking up. "Its something one wears to do exercise, sleep, or just relax. And I plan to do all three today." Akira bit his lip to refrain from sighing.

"So I gathered." He finally muttered dryly. "If I may offer a suggestion," He paused as he caught Shindo rolling his eyes at him. No doubt at the way he phrased things. It seemed to irk the other when he was polite which puzzled Akira. How could being polite irritate someone? It just didn't make any sense to him.

"You may, you may." Akira glared at him.

"I wouldn't wear those."

"Oh? Why?" Again Shindo looked down at himself. "What's wrong with them? I've had these for years. My mom even approves of them. Heck, she probably bought them for me." Akira was ready to just give up and wait for the inevitable to happen. His rival was being dense.

"Of course they're appropriate, Shindo." He gritted the words out. "If we didn't have two cats, I wouldn't even comment on them." The grey green eyes that were looking at him still reflected a deep confusion.

"Touya? Are you sure you're ok?" He started slowly. "I mean. I know we have two cats. I'm not seeing the connection to the sweatpants. Did I hit you too hard this morning?" His rival took a step towards him and Akira backed away hastily.

"I give up." Akira muttered. If living with Karu for two weeks straight had taught the other man nothing about cats and their affinity with anything resembling string, well… it was his own damn fault if anything happened. He felt his eyebrow twitch at the mention of the choking incident. "And yes you did but that's beside the point. It was my back you hit and not my head." He added just a tad scathingly. "I'll be in my room reading if you need anything."

Hikaru watched as Touya made his way back into his room, more than a little confused. He shook his head before shrugging the incident from his thoughts. He'd figured out that he wasn't the only one with slightly eccentric habits. Touya came with a whole set of his own. Some were cute, some were just plain weird, and others just got on his nerves. He gave a little sigh.

Today was not shaping up the way he had hoped it would. His chin was still sore and he was even more certain than ever that Touya was deliberately keeping him from the kitchen. He'd have to have a few words with Waya about that. How was it his fault Waya had eaten cheese from his fridge that had passed its expiration date twice over? So, he'd forgotten to clean his fridge out. It didn't say anything about his cooking abilities! The second sigh he let loose was louder and just a tad sad.

Why did Touya have to go in his room to read? What was the point of the living room if he was always in his bedroom? He frowned a bit and then resolutely turned his back on where his rival had disappeared off to. He was going to enjoy his day off damn it and he would not mope around.

What to do though? The young man crossed his arms across his chest as took a look around the room while he pondered the question. He'd just bought some mangas that he'd been dying to read ages ago. Hikaru nodded to himself at the mental reminder and went to go find them in his room. It was a good idea and the best way to relax.

A couple seconds later cradling the mangas in his arms, Hikaru found the kittens at his feet. "Hey guys. What have you two been up to?" A smirk caused his lips to curve up. Touya really was weird. What did the kittens have to do with his sweatpants anyway? The answer became all too clear in the next second. Karu's butt was wiggling, her green eyes glinting with concentration. Kira was right by her side, mimicking the movements. And _both_ of them were staring right at him! "Woah! Wait!" He took a step back and dropped his mangas in instinctual self preservation. "What the hell! OUCH! KARU-KIRA! STOP! TOUYA! HELP!" Hikaru screamed as claws went flying towards him. Karu, who was very practiced at climbing a moving human body was still attached to his leg. Kira however was now crouching low on the ground, trying desperately to avoid being stepped on. "Get off!"

"Karu." Touya's calm voice called out from behind him. "Shindo. Stop moving." Strong hands pinned him where he was, still trying to shake the kitten off of himself. Easier said than done when you didn't have needle like claws piercing into you, Hikaru thought sourly. The hands moved away as he stilled to come down and pluck the kitten off. Hikaru winced as some skin came off along with the little furry beast.

"Is this what you were trying to tell me?" Hikaru yelled not caring that Touya's face was just a couple feet away from his. That had _hurt_ like hell. Still did. He went to massage his inner thigh and thanked God that Karu and Kira hadn't managed to scratch another part of him. At the mere thought of what could have been hurt, he shuddered. Too close of a call.

"Yes Shindo."

"Why the hell didn't you explain yourself more clearly?" He snapped. "And your cat is clearly psychotic!"

"So is my rival who bought me this cat as a gift." Touya replied dryly, placing Karu on his shoulder. "And I tried. You wouldn't listen." The kitten hid her face in his rival's neck.

"How am _I_ psychotic?" Hikaru moaned. "And she didn't come with a warning sign! Your explanation was so vague…it would have been more helpful to say nothing at all! You, you…"

"You're stuttering." Was he actually amused by all of this?

"I think I have a right to stutter! Your damn cat nearly castrated me!" Touya just glanced at Kira who had cautiously picked himself up. He was innocently licking his front paw.

"Only mine?" Touya asked after a minute or two of silence. Hikaru grimaced knowing fully well that his rival had heard him yell at both kittens. Damn. "Hmm…" He paused, looking at Karu with a thoughtful look. "Maybe she has a complex, being the only girl in the apartment. She might have wanted the company."

"What the hell are you getting at?" Hikaru groaned with a sinking realization that he was just digging himself in a deeper hole and that he would be getting no sympathy whatsoever.

"The reason to why Karu _only_ was trying to ah—castrate you."

"Are you trying to tell me that she was trying to turn me into a girl? You know Touya, I swear to god, I despise the day we found out that Karu was a girl. You _always_ use it against me! It's not fair." Touya bit his lip and looked to the side. "What is it now?" And yes, yes he _was_ whining. He almost felt like it was his right by this point. Hikaru abruptly straightened, leaving his aching leg alone as he watched Touya suddenly shudder silently. Karu, startled by the change as well, hopped off and landed primly onto her four little paws. She joined her brother in an impromptu wash.

Was he—a hand rose to cover that usually serious mouth—laughing? He was laughing! Bastard. "Don—don't laugh! It's not funny!" His words had little impact, judging by the fact that he could now hear the laughter. Hikaru frowned, not seeing how he could leave with his dignity intact unless—"Don't… Touya!" He continued to whine while edging towards the couch. "It's not funny! It really hurt!" He didn't even have to continue the only half fake whine as Touya had covered his face with both hands now. He grabbed a pillow and then pounced on his rival. "You want to laugh? Laugh this off!" He threatened as the pillow landed squarely on top of Touya's head. Teeth clicked together and Touya growled.

"Shindo!"

"Hehe…"

"Just you wait," The taller of the two ground out, hands coming up to protect himself from further attack. Hikaru was getting ready to launch another attack when the kittens decided to join what they obviously thought was play. And their target was of course, the drawstrings on his sweatpants. He yelped jumping onto the couch to get away from them. As fast as he could, he moved the blasted strings into his pants where they couldn't act as a swinging temptation. But it was his undoing. He'd dropped his pillow and left himself wide open for retaliation. And Touya Akira retaliated. It would have been a crime in rivalry history if he hadn't.

It was that afternoon that allowed Hikaru to realize that despite not having many friends growing up, Touya had one heck of an aim and knew exactly how to pillow fight.

They'd have to do this more often, Hikaru thought just a bit out of breath as he collapsed onto the floor. Touya was on the couch, both pillows securely placed under his head. He was flushed gasping for air. Neither had admitted defeat, reluctantly calling truce of some sort as they realized that neither of them were ten anymore and had run out of energy. He heard his rival give a little 'umph' as Karu jumped onto his stomach. It made Hikaru chuckle as he passed a hand over his sweaty forehead. Kira gently placed his wait on his own human and settled on his chest, purrs rumbling in his still small chest.

"Aw, Karu don't—" Touya started, the rest becoming muffled. Hikaru glanced up and his laughter bubbled out of him as he saw Karu holding his rival's face with her little paws, licking him like a dutiful mother. Touya grimaced, moving his face away. "Clean him up while you're at it." He muttered, moving his kitten and depositing her onto Hikaru's unmoving form.

"Hey!" Karu's indignant meow echoed his sentiments exactly. Kira continued to purr, looking satisfied with life all around.

To be continued...

:)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Give an order to a cat, it will give it to its tail_

—_Chinese proverb_

Akira made his way into his building trying desperately to ignore his pounding head. He greeted half-heartedly the apartment manager who had poked his head out just before him, a kind smile making its way on the wrinkled face. He hoped the man didn't have anything to say to him specifically. He really couldn't take any type of conversation at all at this point. He just wanted to go home and sink into bed with a nice cup of tea to sip at if he couldn't fall asleep right away. He was hoping that he wasn't coming down with something and that it was just a developing migraine. He really couldn't afford to get sick with the schedule he had. However, dealing with a migraine wasn't exactly pleasant either.

The older man only nodded at him, understanding coming to his old eyes with just one look. "Get some rest Touya-san. If you have some time another day, please come see me." Akira nodded at his words weakly, filing them away. He'd make Shindo do it. His rival had immediately liked the older man, explaining the rapport by saying he was similar to his grandfather.

He climbed the stairs and frowned as music filtered into the hallway. He made a face. New neighbors had moved in recently, maybe it was their music? How rude. It was so loud the floors were vibrating beneath his feet. And good lord, what was this type of music anyway? Akira felt his headache pound to the beat in a very painful manner. He gritted his teeth together. When his headache was gone, he'd have a few words with these neighbors…he would. Really. Oh if only the pain would go away.

His door was suddenly in front of him and he was dismayed to find that the music hadn't lessened at all in its blaring intensity. Instead, it seemed that the volume had increased ten-fold. A cold dread, cramped his stomach. Akira dropped his head, leaning it against the cool wooden door, whispering a soft prayer before yanking the unlocked door open.

Shindo was running? Dancing? In front of him to the music with Karu following his every move. She pranced after his moving feet, obviously enjoying the attention. He watched with growing disbelief as his rival bent to face the kitten and "Everybody, everybody, let's get into it! Get stupid! Get retarded, get retarded, get retarded…" started to sing. Akira leaned on the door frame, hands coming to cradle his head. Oh no. Oh no this was _not_ happening. "Let's get retarded, HA, let's get retarded in here!" Karu meowed along with Akira's rival as if she too wanted to sing to this…this…music? She allowed herself to be picked up and swung around as Shindo started doing this weird step to the side then to the next, moving his hips to the beat.

"Kill me, please. Someone? Anyone?" Akira groaned. He felt bad for everyone in this hallway, having been put through this torture for…oh gods. How long had Hikaru been blaring his music like this? Akira blinked as he thought he heard the word epilepsy in the song. What? He shook his head and grimaced. That hadn't been the smartest thing to do. "Shindo." He tried with no visible effect as his rival continued to belt out the lyrics. "Shindo!" He walked further into the apartment, letting the door behind him slam shut. _That_ was heard. Shindo yelped, rooted to the spot.

"TOUYA!" He let Karu fall to the ground, landing neatly on her four front paws. Very quickly, Shindo moved to the cd player and shut it off. "Uh. Hi. You scared the hell out of me." His rival took in a deep breath, rubbing at red cheeks. "Did you have a good day?" He asked weakly. For a moment, rendered speechless, Akira just stared. Mind you, it was only for a very short moment.

"What was that?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"Uhm?" Shindo started sheepishly wondering whether the _that_ was referring to the music, the dancing or both. Kira tentatively poked his head out from Akira's bedroom where he'd been hiding the entire time the music had been on.

"Do you realize," Akira took a step forward not realizing that the glare on his face due to pain was making him look very threatening. "that the entire hallway was vibrating to this?"

"No?" Shindo took a step back. He'd never seen Akira's game face away from the go board and now, he knew he should've been grateful. "I didn't realize it was that loud. I'm sorry?"

"I could hear it at the staircase and I was just thinking to myself how irresponsible and rude and… and it's you?" Akira snapped. "How long have you been listening to it this loudly? Actually don't answer that. I'm afraid to know. You should go see if any of our neighbors were here and apologize to them. I'm going to bed."

"T-touya?" The bedroom door clicked shut and Shindo just huffed a sigh, all trace of his previously good mood gone, completed drained away. A soft meow begged for his attention near his feet. "I think I'm in the doghouse." He confided quietly to his partner in crime. He knelt to the floor and cuddled Karu close to him. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

….…

The phone rang a couple hours later. Hikaru ran for it. He wasn't quite sure what Touya was doing since he'd come home. The other hadn't left his room since then and it made Hikaru feel ten times worse with the passing time. God, he felt like such a little kid sometimes.

"Mom?" He blinked. Great, increase the feeling of little kid by a hundred. "What is it? Huh? Yeah, I'm good. Touya's good. He's…he's busy right now. Mm-hmm, the kittens are fine. They're growing fast. Yep. Yep…ah," The next question she asked him made him blink, his heart suddenly hurting painfully in his chest. "Wow. It's hard to believe that it's almost been a whole month." He leaned against the kitchen wall behind him bracing himself against the cold slap of reality. "Yeah. Yeah I know. I'll start looking for a new apartment." He brushed aside his bangs, blinking hard. "Yeah mom. I _get_ it. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome either." He hissed the words out. And wow. They hurt. They hurt a lot. He'd been in happy denial, staying here with Touya and the kittens.

He'd gotten comfortable with the routine, with the company, with everything…

He'd made it his home even though he knew it would only be temporary.

But it wasn't his home. And the keyword was temporary.

"Mom, I should go. I love you too. Bye." He hung up the phone and glanced around the room, hoping to save the details forever. Hikaru turned away briskly and made his way into his bedroom, closing the door gently. He needed to start doing the research and ignore the growing lump in his throat.

….…

When Akira woke up it was to silence and a headache free world. He lay in his covers for a moment, enjoying the feeling of warmth and being fully relaxed. He couldn't stay there forever he knew and a glance at his alarm clock made him sigh, confirming his guess that he really ought to get up. He needed to make dinner and…well, if his memory was correct, he probably owed his rival an apology of some sort. He'd probably been a real bear towards him. He covered a yawn and swung his feet over the bed to settle on the floor.

If only he could just forget about everything and just go back to sleep. That would be so much nicer.

He stifled a groan and pushed himself off the rest of the way. Akira walked softly to the kitchen, smiling as the kittens immediately made their way towards him. They walked between his legs, their lithe bodies brushing against him in demand to be picked up or pet depending on which furry body it was. They followed him into the kitchen, Karu jumping to the counter. Her big green eyes blinked at him watching his every move. She knew better now then to get in his way of cooking. Instead, if she stayed nice and quiet either on the counter or on his shoulder where she could see everything, she was more likely to get a treat. Kira knew as well and made himself comfortable on the floor, blue eyes blinking sleepily.

A half hour later, with dinner steaming on the table Akira knocked on Shindo's door. "Dinner's ready." The door opened before he finished saying the words and the two rivals stood nose to nose. Akira blinked at the sudden proximity and took a step back. "Ah. Sorry about that."

"No, I'm sorry." Shindo offered hastily. "And I'm uh, I'm really sorry about before. I really, _really_ didn't realize my music was so loud." Akira brushed his hair back past his ears, noticing half-heartedly that he really needed a hair cut. Most of his mind was focusing on his rival who was decidedly not himself. He was quiet, almost sad looking. It made him wince internally. He must have been worse than a bear.

"I'm sorry as well." He started. "I had a migraine and I was caught off guard." He offered a small smile. "Please don't take anything I said to heart. Though I would appreciate it if the music was never again _that_ loud."

"It won't be. I promise." His rival sniffed at the air. "Smells good. Uhm. Are you feeling better?" Akira turned away to walk towards the kitchen area. He glanced behind his shoulder at Shindo who was following him.

"Yes, thank you." The prescription painkillers that he had for his migraines had worked wonders along with the undisturbed sleep.

Despite the shared apologies, Akira was at a loss of what to do or say when dinner remained a rather silent affair between the four of them.

….…

Ogata-san was quiet, which wasn't abnormal in itself. The man was an observer. He liked sitting back, smoking his cigarette and watching how the world interacted with its many players. It made time slow down for a just a second while revealing a great many things that most thought were kept perfectly hidden. Take Shindo for instance, he'd always been shining in a way that made others smile despite his sometimes rude and obnoxious behavior. He'd brightened however when he'd moved in with Akira. The huge smiles that he had been bringing to the Go Institute were blinding. It was almost to the point of being disgusting. And if that hadn't been obvious enough, Waya's change in attitude for Shindo's rival spoke volumes. The older man finished his cigarette, putting it out in the handy little tray the Go Institute had on their many tables. It was surprising then, to see Shindo looking—he pushed the tray aside—not himself. Down almost. His gaze moved from Shindo's little group to his godchild, hoping to find an explanation there.

Akira was rolling his shoulders forward and backwards to relieve his upper back and neck of the growing tension. His small smile was unfeigned as he leaned his head slightly towards Ashiwara, listening to the older man chatter about something or another. It was sometimes hard for Ogata-san to realize how much they'd all grown. Akira had long ago finished school, he was growing leaps and bounds in the Go world, already strong enough to reach Ogata-san where he stood and he was so much taller now. Akira had left the awkward stage of adolescence and was handsome, sure of himself and yet…Ogata-san smirked. The young man was still horribly naïve and oblivious when it came to certain—he took another glance at Shindo—things. Of course, Shindo's manner of handling things left a lot to be desired but still, most of those who knew the pair would have thought they'd be a bit further along then they actually were. And perhaps that was the answer to Shindo's demeanor. The lack of progress…

It wouldn't be good as Akira's Godfather if he didn't offer _the_ rivals of the Go world a helping hand. He huffed a small sigh that was more a pleased chuckle than anything else. It wouldn't do at all. He eased himself into Ashiwara's conversation, waiting for a pause in his cheerful friend's ramblings to put his plan into action. It couldn't come soon enough, for his taste.

"So," Ogata-san cut in smoothly, playing with the pack of cigarettes resting on his lap. The two other go players turned to look at him. "Has Shindo confessed yet?" Ashiwara squawked and was ignored as Ogata-san continued to focus on Akira's face. Green eyes widened in a perplexed manner.

"Confessed?" The young man tilted his head in a questioning manner. "What was he supposed to confess about?" He blinked and seemed to think about the matter a bit too seriously for Ogata-san's sake. Where was the blushing? Where was the frantic and stammering denial? Instead, Akira's puzzled look took on a darkening frown. "Did he _do_ something?" Ashiwara made a noise that couldn't be categorized while Ogata-san coughed in surprise. That wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"Akira," He started, closing his eyes. "What the hell are you on about?"

"Well there are two reasons one would confess something." Two? News to him. "One, if they've done something bad." Ashiwara was grinning in a sympathetic manner, shaking his head slightly. It was clear to Ogata-san that Ashiwara was thinking of Shindo's plight. Ogata-san could only feel his eyebrows arch higher and higher in surprise. 'You have got to be kidding me,' he thought. If he'd known Akira was being this slow, he would have meddled in their affairs earlier. "Or two, if they like that person. That obviously can't be it so that leaves option one. What did Shindo do?"

"Think again." He muttered. Akira blinked. And blinked again.

"Excuse me?" Now there was a blush spreading over pale skin. He sighed and took a second cigarette out, tapping it gently against the pack.

"I was talking about option two." He deliberately said the words slowly, drawing them out. "I'm guessing from your reaction, that he hasn't. The idiot." He glared at Ashiwara to keep the other quiet. The younger man rolled his eyes at the glare, smile still playing on his lips. He wasn't going to interfere for now and Ogata-san was grateful. "I'm surprised actually," He lit the cigarette. "He's blunt about everything else."

"I don't think," Akira started awkwardly. "You're, He's, We're not…"

"Think about it." That would be enough of a push for now, he thought. He pushed himself up and stretched while smoothing the wrinkles out of his suit. With that, he walked out of the room. He'd done his good deed for the Godfather title. He'd wait and see how the rest played out.

Ashiwara glanced at the younger man in amusement and worry at the same time. He didn't think he could ever remember a time when Akira had looked so red and so helplessly lost. The wide green eyes followed Ogata-san out the room and Ashiwara could only sigh. That man was insufferable at times. He took Akira's hand in his own, tapping it gently in what he hoped was a soothing manner. He could almost see Akira thinking everything through, probably re-analyzing previous moments between him and his rival. When Akira turned to him and weakly opened his mouth, Ashiwara nodded without needed to hear the question.

Akira bowed his head in defeat.

To be continued…

A/n- Thank you for those who have been reviewing and supporting me throughout the process of writing this story. I really appreciate the feedback and I def. take it into consideration when I start writing the next chapters…which is why I decided to move things along a bit. :P Huggles to all of you. Oh and slight disclaimer- the lyrics that Hikaru was singing are not of my own creation. They belong to the Black Eyed Peas.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_After Dark all Cats are Leopards_

—_Native American Proverb_

He'd never really thought about the way things were changing between him and his rival. Part of the reason was that it scared him just a bit at the implications of where all of it would lead. A lot would change if he took Waya's not so subtle suggestions to heart, if he accepted the small touches here and there as fact… He glanced at his hands and found them trembling just a bit.

Everything would change.

Wouldn't it?

Yet he didn't want everything to change. He liked—no—he loved their rivalry, needed it. Would that change? Would it lose some of its intensity if they dropped their guards down and started seeing each other as more than just rivals?

Akira shook his head slowly, wishing the thoughts would straighten themselves out into a more orderly fashion.

Ogata-san's tone suggested that he'd been oblivious to the whole matter. That wasn't the case. Not quite. He'd known. He really had, he'd just chosen to remain blind to them for a bit longer, hoping that time would give him more answers instead of more confusing questions. How did they get here? How did it come to this? How and why? He felt his cheeks burning as his eyes sought out his rival in the other room. Shindo was laughing with his friends, enjoying the lunch break before the games would start again. The sight of the other brought on a quickening of his heart beat.

Maybe it'd been selfish of him to ignore the change. Maybe it'd been cowardly… Akira took a breath in and slowly released it out.

'I've run out of time,' With that thought he stood up and made his way to his place. In his mind he was already formulating his plan. His next move. He needed to pick up the slack. After all, Shindo had been playing most of the opening moves by himself…

….…

Hikaru made his way back to the apartment slowly, lost in his thoughts. He'd called two places and actually visited a third place already—all who were looking for renters, looked reasonably priced, _and_ were accepting of cats. The third option was a big NO but he'd just have to see in the next couple days if the other two actually fit their printed descriptions. Waya had already offered to come with him, punching his arm in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture. Comforting—like hell! He probably had a bruise the size of a peach by now. Hikaru bit his lip. He was just being negative about everything right now, the possible apartments especially. He felt a bit wary of them, his mind and heart already made up in hating the two options because if one of them was suitable…he'd really have to leave. He'd have no excuses.

He sighed. It would really suck, having to pack everything again. Maybe he shouldn't have unpacked all of his boxes when he'd moved here in the first place. Hikaru took his time climbing the stairs and walking down the hallway. As he reached the door, throat tight, he shook his head. He was being silly. It wasn't like it was his last day here already! He was acting like he would never be here again…and that was just stupid. He was being stupid. If he didn't start shaping up soon, Touya would get suspicious. He forced a smile on his face and tried to think of a reasonable excuse for why he was coming home so late.

He tried the door and found it unlocked, a clear indication that Touya was already home. Which wasn't strange at all because it was getting rather late. But it was surprisingly quiet in the apartment and after a couple of minutes of careful investigation, Hikaru found out why. Touya was asleep on the couch with Karu laid out near his neck while Kira was curled up on his chest. All three were so deeply asleep that they took no notice of him as he watched them. Piled on the floor next to the couch was a couple of kifu. Hikaru quietly came closer and bent down to see whose they were. He wasn't really surprised when he realized that they were of Kuwabara Honinbo's latest game. Ogata-sensei was going to be playing the old man again in a title match and dead set on winning. But he would have to beat Touya first in the preliminaries. And knowing his rival as he did, he knew that Touya would not give his godfather an easy time at all.

Hikaru placed the kifu back down and sat, his back leaning against the couch. The smile he had forced on his face earlier melted into a softer, truer one. He rested his head, nearly touching Touya's knee and found himself relaxing fully for the first time that day.

He'd never seen his rival like this before. Sleeping and utterly relaxed without any barriers or masks of politeness to keep him at bay and out of reach. Hikaru's eyes started to flutter to a close despite wanting to watch the scene for a just a bit longer—just long enough to be sure that he could memorize it and never forget it. He hadn't realized how taxing today had been. But now home…he could feel again. And he was tired. Within a couple of minutes, he fell asleep as well.

Kira was the first to stir, he blinked sleepily before uncurling and then placing his front paws a little away from him—he stretched his back. He uttered a little contented mrew that seemed to waken his sister and then sat down, licking first his front paw and then the other one. He passed the first paw, after having licked it thoroughly, over his ear. He was very diligent at keeping himself clean unlike his sister who sometimes needed to be pinned down and cleaned by him. Those times were rare still. She was slightly bigger and better at play-fighting.

Karu opened one eye, glared at her brother who ignored the look completely, and closed it again. She wasn't ready to wake up. She was still digesting her yummy dinner and she was warm and safe where she was. She buried her head deeper into her human's long dark hair, hoping that he wouldn't wake up. Karu gave a small sigh before falling right back to sleep.

It was when Kira noticed that his human was home as well that he began to purr. The soft noise rumbled within his chest and grew as he poked Hikaru's cheek with his small nose. There was no response to his greeting but he didn't quite need one. The kitten was happy and moved even closer. His warm tongue started to clean the furless face.

Hikaru frowned in his sleep at the raspy touch and tried to move away from it. Paws then came and rested on his face with just a hint of claws that made him stay still. Hikaru opened his eyes slowly only to have his nose being licked thoroughly. He yelped, startling Kira whose claws came out in instinctual reaction and pierced his skin. Touya at the sound woke up with his heart beating fast in his chest and tried to sit up, his knees moved and one slammed in the back of Hikaru's head. Karu dumped unceremoniously from her perch meowed loudly at the injustice.

"Ow! OW!" Kira fell back on the ground and Karu pounced at him. She pinned him, growling and batting at his head with her free paw. This was all _his_ fault!

"Shindo?" Hikaru didn't know which hurt the worse at this point, his scratched face or his throbbing head. "What—?" Touya moved again, swinging his legs so that they were over the couch. "Are you all right?"

"No!" Hikaru moaned, deciding finally that the throbbing of his head hurt worse. He clutched at his head, wondering vaguely if rubbing it would help or make it worse.

"What happened?" Touya asked. He separated the kittens with a distracted hand, pushing Karu to one side and Kira to another. And then suddenly he was there, kneeling in front of him. He pulled Hikaru's hands away and felt for the bump. "You scared the hell out of me. When did you come in?"

"Fell asleep, Kira woke me up, he was licking my face. I wasn't expecting it. And then…" He jerked away as Touya's long fingers found the source of the pain and gently massaged the area. "That hurts! Man Touya!" Hikaru whined. "Bony shoulders, bony knees… you need to eat more or something."

"Don't be an idiot, Shindo." Touya responded in kind yet his fingers remained gentle and slowly Hikaru relaxed under the ministration. The throbbing too started to lessen and he found himself leaning towards the touch. "You should put some ice on that." Touya finally whispered, sitting back and breaking the contact.

"Yeah thanks." The other got up and turned on the light without warning. Hikaru covered his eyes and both kittens blinked at the change.

"Shindo? Is that blood?" Touya asked.

"Eh?" Hikaru felt his face, grimacing as he felt the warm stickiness. "Guess it is." He sighed. "Is the antiseptic cream back in…" He trailed off as he realized that Touya was already gone. "Maa, Touya!" He got up and started after his rival. "Wait up!"

….…

Minutes later and two band aids decorating his rival's face, Akira sat at the table opposite of him wondering exactly when weird had become a natural state of being.

"I'm sorry I came home so late." Shindo muttered between bites, digging into his reheated plate of food. "Didn't expect my errands to take so long."

"It's all right." Akira really didn't see the need for an apology. It wasn't the first time his rival was late. At least this time he'd had the presence of mind to call and warn him in advance. Though, he had to admit, Shindo had gotten much better at being on time lately. He watched the other eat with a bit of apprehension on whether he'd made enough food after all. Either Shindo truly enjoyed his cooking or he was starving; Akira really couldn't tell from the way the other was shoveling the food in his mouth. Too soon, his rival was filling his plate for the second time. Shindo's appetite never ceased to amaze him. Akira sighed, resting his head on his hand. Maybe he should have cooked for four instead of dividing the ingredients to make the recipe fit for three people.

At the small sound, Shindo paused to swallow and look him over. Under the sudden scrutiny Akira could only sit up and correct his posture. "What is it?" He asked, hoping Shindo would stop staring at him like that.

"If you're tired," Shindo started softly. "You don't have to keep me company. You should go to bed." The other paused for a minute, opening his mouth before closing it once more. Then with a little movement of the shoulder, as if he was bracing himself, he continued. "You didn't have to wait for me tonight…" The grey-green eyes dropped back to look at the contents of his plate.

"I know," Akira whispered. "I just…" Well, this was awkward. He didn't quite know how to broach this subject. "I needed to talk to you about something." He caught Shindo's barely suppressed wince and wondered as to what it was for. He supposed he could ask him afterwards. "The manager wanted to talk to us yesterday. I forgot to mention it yesterday because of the migraine…"

"Ojii-san?"

"Yes." Akira rubbed his palms onto his pants, hoping that Ogata-san was right about this whole thing.

"Is he ok?" Shindo's eyes had gotten huge with worry. "He didn't hurt himself helping that one family move in did he? Old people can be so stubborn you know…" Akira blinked at all the questions, shaking his head a bit helplessly.

"He's fine, Shindo."

"Oh. That's good. What did he want then?" Relieved, he'd gone back to eating. The words were barely understandable amidst the huge amount of food that was crammed into his mouth. Akira sighed at the sight and bit his lip to refrain from commenting. He'd learned from the first week of living with the other man that he'd have no luck in instilling table manners in him. It would be more useful to scream at a rock. Still, it wasn't the most attractive thing in the world and he made a small face. Shindo caught it and smiled, knowing exactly what caused it. He added another large mouthful winking at him.

"Idiot." He muttered and Shindo saluted him with his chopsticks. "Anyway, as I was saying…He wanted to tell me that there was a larger apartment that had been freed up on the floor above us. He was wondering whether we'd be interested…would you be?" He'd spoken rather fast and Shindo blinked at the words. The chopsticks were deposited onto the table slowly.

"If we'd…" He trailed off. "But I thought," He swallowed hard. "I thought I'd be here only temporarily. A month, right?"

"Well, I mean." Akira started to stammer. "I know that's what we agreed upon at first and of course I understand if you don't want to continue with this arrangement. It must be awkward but I thought you should know. That's all." His hands had fisted into the material of his pants unconsciously and inside he felt like he was shaking. It had been a stupid thing to do. He should have just told the manager the same thing he had told him the first time—it was a temporary situation—only temporary. And if he hadn't been completely filled with nerves, Akira was sure he would have felt bruised inside.

"You," Shindo began, still sounding a bit shocked. "Wait. You really wouldn't mind?" The words were faint and filled with hope. Akira shook his head.

"I wouldn't have offered, if I minded."

Shindo inclined his head at that, realizing the truth. A real smile was starting to form on his face as he continued. "I'd like that."

"Really?" Akira asked, hating the way he sounded shy in that one moment. His rival took no notice and just nodded eagerly.

"Really!" And then he was out of his chair, scooping poor Kira in his arms and doing this mad little dance within the apartment. The kitten meowed and braced himself on his human's shoulder. "Did you hear that Kira! We're going to stay!" Karu ran after them and Akira just placed his face in his hands.

"Shindo!" Really. His rival was such a lunatic at times. "The neighbors!"

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Happy owner, happy cat. _

_Indifferent owner, reclusive cat. _

–_Chinese Proverb_

"So," Waya started looking at his friend. They were walking side by side, each coming away from the go institute with a new win. "Touya asked you to live with him…permanently?" Shindo nodded a look of complete happiness on his face. "That's good." He started not really knowing what else there was to say. He was only mildly surprised at the announcement. "You really _don't_ have to worry about finding a new place now."

"It's nice." Shindo agreed quietly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I already called the places to cancel my appointment and everything. Touya and I are going to check out the apartment above us today."

"Now?" Waya asked, arching his eyebrow. Shindo shot him a look.

"It'll only take a couple of minutes. I doubt Touya will mind if you see it with us." The redhead sighed at the announcement. He wasn't as sure as his friend that Touya wouldn't mind. But what the heck…they were already more than halfway there and Waya was loath to just turning around because his idiot friend had once again forgotten about previous plans. Still, he couldn't let Shindo get away with it like that or else the moron would never learn.

"You forgot didn't you?" He slapped the other on the back of the head.

"OW!" The yell that followed it was a bit of an extreme reaction. He hadn't hit the other _that_ hard.

"Wimp. Stop being such a baby."

"Waya!" Shindo growled, hand rubbing his head. "You… stop hitting me will you? I already had a bump there from Touya kneeing me yesterday. I'd like it to go away at one point, thanks. And I'm not a wimp or a baby!" The younger man dropped his hand only to pull up one of his sleeves. "You're just abusive." He jerked his head towards his upper arm. "Look at that! That's from you as well!" Waya made a show of examining the bruise. Hell. If you could even call it that. It was minuscule. He rolled his eyes and stood up straighter.

"Shindo." He tried to look sympathetic while the other narrowed his eyes, intensifying his glare. "You're not helping your case, mama's boy."

"Just wait till we're off the streets buddy. I'll show you whose a mama's boy." The other threatened stomping away. Waya grinned at the sight and ran up to catch up to him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm already trembling." They shoved each other with their shoulders for a couple of minutes, their play causing an older woman to change to the other side of the street and a group of little kids to gawk at them with widened eyes. They weren't always like this and Waya had to admit that it was a nice change to their more 'mature' behavior as Isumi called it that they'd been displaying as of late.

They finally called it quits, laughing at themselves for a moment before straightening up and passing distracted hands through their clothes to get rid of the wrinkles. Waya shook his head, his hands running through his hair to get it out of his eyes. He saw that they were only a block away now from the apartment building. A question that he hadn't asked before flowed back into his head. The smile faded to give way to a serious expression. "Ne Shindo?" He bit his lip. "Are you going to tell him?" Shindo looked up and cast his friend a side way glance.

"Tell him? Touya you mean?" He didn't really need Waya's nod to confirm it. "No." He whispered.

"Why?"

"Things are ok as they are." The voice was still soft but firmer. It reminded Waya of when Shindo had first told Isumi and him about his feelings. Isumi, as always, had accepted the news with serious eyes and a small comforting smile. Waya hadn't taken the news so well. He'd only been able to stare at his friend as if he'd become a sudden stranger—he'd laughed it off, trying to force Shindo into taking the words back, into saying that it was all a joke—but Shindo had continued to look at him with eyes that were much older and there had been bleak understanding shining through them. The younger boy had finally stood up, telling the two of them to forget about it and not worry. Nothing would have to change between them.

Yet everything had.

It was stupid. Clearly, Shindo had always had eyes for Touya and only Touya. But Waya couldn't help but revisit and analyze his memories of the younger boy, dissecting each moment for any hidden meanings. Without even realizing what he was doing, he slowly but surely started to push the other away in an attempt to hide from the awkwardness of it all. He remembered how Isumi tried to talk to him and him laughing it off, saying how that would be stupid because Shindo was Shindo and he was Waya. Nothing would change that. Nothing could. His best friend had sighed then and muttered, why does he miss you if nothing has changed? He hadn't known how to reply. But the shame had eaten away at him…He'd shaped up eventually. Had started to walk by Shindo's side again, teasing the younger boy shamelessly when he managed (always) to place his foot in his mouth, and slowly…slowly things had started to be less awkward.

He took a side glance at his companion and wondered if Shindo feared Touya doing the same thing to him. As hypocritical it was, if Touya ever did…He'd…his hands formed fists at his side.

"I never got to tell you this." His voice broke the silence. Shindo inclined his head towards him as he pushed the door open. "I'm sorry."

"Eh? For what?" Green wide eyes blinked at him.

"Ah Shindo-kun, we were just waiting for you." The manager's voice saved Waya from answering to his relief. Touya stood at the older man's side, a strange expression on his face that quickly changed into relief as he caught sight of them. He nodded in greeting to the two, not minding in the least that Waya was there. The redhead could only sigh. He feared that he never would understand the two of them. "Ready to visit?"

"Lead the way Ojii-san!"

…

A couple hours later, the three were sitting in the living room. Akira was perched on the couch, Karu and Kira both on his lap as Shindo sprawled out on the ground and Waya sat on his knees on the floor beside him.

"Ojii-san can be pushy." Shindo grumbled. Akira sighed. His rival had no idea how pushy that old man could be. He had yet to be caught alone for hours at a time with the elder and his…comments. He shook his head, preferring to not think about that right now and instead concentrate on petting the two furballs. Their purring was comforting as it ran through him.

"Do you two like it at least?" Waya asked, sipping at his soda.

"Hmm," Shindo muttered. "It's not really _that_ much different than here. We'd just have—what?—one more room?" He looked to Akira for confirmation. He nodded, scratching Kira under the chin and Karu behind her ears with his other hand. Shindo sat up from his sprawl, serious eyes looking over the place. "Do you think we even need a larger place?" Akira halted his ministration, looking to where his rival was glancing. The kittens blinked and looked as well, their purrs rumbling within their chest slowing.

"Not necessarily." He answered finally. A furry head bumped his hand in a demand.

"Did you want a bigger place?" Shindo asked.

"Well," Akira sighed. He was kind of torn on the subject. He liked his apartment and he didn't really want to have to pack up everything and haul it up a flight of stairs. Call him lazy if you must but one move in one year was more than enough for his back, thank you very much. On the other hand, it would be nice to have a room where he could tutor his students. With Shindo's arrival, he'd gone back to tutoring them either at their homes or at the go institute. Neither were really options that he preferred. He found that the younger students usually weren't as focused in their own homes and too tense at the go institute. He blinked, suddenly his thoughts fleeing from him as he realized that two sets of eyes were peering at him intently waiting for him to answer the question. Waya even looked a little worried and Shindo…Akira looked away. "I don't know." He finally answered quickly. "There are some advantages to having a bigger place and some disadvantages as well."

Kira stretched underneath his hand, shook himself and then pressed his cold nose against his cheek before jumping away completely. He sort of trotted to the kitchen, the awkward baby walk not completely gone from his elongating gait. Akira watched him go and realized with a tug that the two were growing up and they wouldn't be _kittens_ much longer. He made a face. Another disadvantage of moving would be the increase in cost and the cats would be needing their surgeries soon. He winced at the thought of those bills.

"Maybe both of you could make a list of pros and cons of moving out of this apartment and then look them over together." Waya suggested breaking the thoughtful silence. Shindo nodded, clearly thinking that through.

"That would be good." Akira started. "Thank you."

"Eh? No worries. No worries." Waya cleared his throat and placed his soda down on the ground carefully. He gave Karu a warning glance, knowing how likely it was for her to just leap from her resting spot to pounce on him or his drink. Whichever she thought she'd get away with really…At the moment however, she just nestled into a tighter curl in Akira's lap very happy to now have two hands at her disposal instead of having to share Akira with her brother. "You've got those two totally spoiled." He commented with a grin.

"Me?" Akira asked, surprised. The look he got in return was a 'of course—you!—who else?' Shindo was singularly unhelpful, plopping back down into a laying position with a small smile on his face.

"I always figured you were a cat person." He muttered quietly. "It's cute."

"C-cute?!" Akira stammered, cheeks heating up. "Idiot! You're the one who turned me into a cat person! I had no choice in the matter whatsoever!" Heh. From the way Shindo's face was reddening as well, Waya supposed that Shindo hadn't meant for the last part to be heard. The two rivals started arguing about whose fault it really was and why couldn't Akira just admit that he was happy he'd gotten the cats anyway? Shindo was quite loud when he was being defensive.

"Oh jeez…" Here we go again, Waya thought. That idiot was way too obvious. "I really hope Isumi comes soon. I'm hungry." He continued talking to himself mainly, ignoring the bantering? bickering? hell, was it flirting? that was going on beside him. Whatever. He didn't really want to look into it too much. Karu jumped off the couch, ears flicking back in forth to the two voices snapping at each other over her head. She looked annoyed. Funny how that was, Waya had never thought he'd see a cat looking annoyed. He reached out and poked her on the side of her face. Immediately she batted at his hand, tail whipping around her. "Better get used to it, psycho-kitty. They'll never change."

"No scratching, Karu. You know better." Akira muttered, hands pulling Karu away from Waya swiftly. She made a soft little mew sound that was way too disgruntled. That cat had enough personality to fill ten people or more. Kira padded up slowly back to them, taking in the scene as he always did. Silently.

"He was provoking her." Shindo muttered. "He deserved getting scratched though I doubt he did." He was waving a lazy hand towards Waya's face in what Waya could only guess was a silent request to see the hand that had been batted at.

"You're a jerk, Shindo. Standing up for a cat instead of your friend." He stubbornly ignored the waving hand.

"Jerk? Me? Bah!" The knocking on the door got everyone to be quiet.

"ISUMI! Thank the gods!"

"Che. If you were _that_ hungry, you should have said something. We do have snacks. I mean, I live here."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Akira huffed a sigh and then shook his head. "Anyway, I doubt it's just because he's hungry that he's that happy to see Isumi-san." How perceptive of you, Waya thought as he swung open the door.

"Uhm…hi." Isumi muttered weakly, looking for all the world as if he was trying to hide behind his pizza boxes. No doubt the commotion had been all too noticeable even from the hallway and behind the closed door.

"They were doing ok when visiting the apartments." Waya offered, grabbing the first pizza box from his friend's hands. "And then well," Waya shrugged. "Shindo had to go open his mouth and they've been at each other's throats since. You know the usual." He was teasing the two rivals but was surprised to see a rather smug look on Akira's face.

"See. Not just the hunger." He turned away from his rival then, going to the kitchen to grab plates for the four of them. Shindo just stood there for a minute, looking stunned.

"How is this all my fault?" He asked finally. Waya just laughed and nudged him with the pizza box until he moved out of the way. He dropped the box on the table and flipped it open. The smell was heavenly and he was quite sure it wasn't only his stomach that grumbled. He eyed Shindo who just scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face. "What?" The other asked. "I'm hungry too!"

From the counter a white and orange fluff ball was plotting. She had been sniffing the air in what could only be described as an appreciative manner and Karu was now shifting her weight on her paws, trying to calculate the best way to jump from her spot to the table. The table was a BIG NO zone and she glanced behind her to see where Akira was once or twice. But all the humans were talking and not paying attention to what she was doing. Her butt started to wiggle. She could definitely make it if she tried and then…

And then, Waya swore he just felt a rush of air fly past his face and that Karu had moved too bloody fast for the eye to see. Shindo just thought he was an idiot because how could you miss seeing all that fur and SHRIEK! The noise that erupted from the small body caused chaos to follow. Akira nearly dropped the plates in his surprise, banging them noisily into the counter and bumping into Isumi who had been coming to help him. What followed was an awkward shuffling as both tall young men tried to let the other pass and kept blocking each other's way instead.

"CATCH THAT MENACE! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" Waya yelled. His one cheek was hot and tomatoey where Karu had jumped from the pizza onto him, no doubt to keep her little paws from being totally burned by the steaming cheese. Shindo was already running after her, face contorting from a mixture of alarm to downright hysteria. Akira was going to kill the two of them. Little red and greasy paw prints were forming wherever she ran. And oh no… no…no…

"KARU!!!" Shindo tried to leap for her before she crashed into Waya's soda can but it was too late. The young kitten tumbled over it, the last of the soda spilling on her and the carpet before the can came and hit her on the head. Shi-it! She was shaking her head, meowing pitifully with her large green eyes shut tight. Most of the soda had gotten on her head. Before she could even think of running again, Shindo grabbed her with one hand. Another heart wrenching mew came from her. Perhaps, Shindo winced, he was holding her too tightly.

"What the hell are you doing to my cat?!" Akira hissed, finally grabbing Isumi's shoulders and pushing him to the side so he could get through. He ignored Waya's victory chants that were turning into expletives of what a little hellion of a kamikaze his kitten was. Shindo offered a weak smile and gave up the kitten right away with a promise that he'd clean the mess up. "What? What?!"

"I'm going to clean it I swear, just check her paws… I think she might have burned them."

"What? How? Why is she wet?" Akira asked. Karu was not cooperating, wiggling out of his hold and _whining_—it really was the only word he could come up with to describe the sounds that were coming from her. He snagged her free from his shoulder where she had been climbing up onto. With Isumi's help, Akira managed to keep her still long enough to examine her paws that did indeed look redder than usual.

Shindo sighed, wet towel in hand as he started scrubbing at the carpet. "She jumped into the pizza."

"It's ruined now! There's no way I'm eating anything that she's stepped on." Waya added, glaring at the kitten and wondering how Touya had managed all this time in not strangling that little monster. Dealing with Shindo and that little beast? Urgh. No thank you. "Good thing Isumi bought two of them." Shindo nodded wearily and picked up the now empty soda can. He threw it at him with a silent thanks when Waya went to throw it out.

"Anyway, Karu freaked out and ran into Waya's soda. So I wouldn't let her…" He trailed off. It was too late to even bother finishing that sentence. Karu had wiggled her way loose again and was currently looking as if she was trying to bury herself in his rival's hair. He withered under Akira's deathly glare and sighed as the other man stalked off to the bathroom with his kitten.

A couple minutes later and Akira came out with a dripping and pathetic looking Karu who apparently he'd been lecturing the entire time. Waya and Isumi watched on with huge eyes as he toweled her off. Akira had changed his own clothes and his hair seemed damp. Kira, who'd hidden because of all of the noise, finally emerged from underneath the couch and darted to where his sister was. He started to lick her face, helping in the task of getting her dry. It didn't seem to be improving her mood any but it really was an adorable scene. Shindo decided to keep that to himself though as he worked on removing the last of the paw prints off the floor.

Isumi finally looked away and blinked at Waya. "Uhm." He poked his friend's cheek. "You might want to get cleaned up as well."

"Eh?" Amber eyes looked at him curiously before darkening. "Damn cat. Lunatic. Couldn't even see it coming." The redhead grumbled as he stomped his way into the kitchen to clean his cheek.

…

Pizza incident aside, they finally settled down to eat in front of the television, debating what they wanted to watch. Touya remained silent as the three friends shouted out suggestions. Well, Waya and Hikaru shouted, Isumi didn't. There were relatively few movies that Touya had seen and Hikaru knew each of them. He was making sure to brandish the ones he thought Touya might be interested in watching but he really wasn't sure. They'd never done this before. It was kind of…nice.

And that's when they all heard something that they'd never heard before.

Hissing.

Hikaru blinked and turned to see what was going on.

Kira was hissing at his sister.

What the hell?

"Wha--?" Waya asked.

"Karu." Touya started. "He doesn't want to play, leave him alone." It must have been the mixture of her brother's reaction and Touya's voice or something because Hikaru had never seen Karu listen the first time like that. She immediately backed off, tail drooping listlessly between her legs. She walked until she was hidden behind the couch where no doubt she immediately would begin washing herself.

"Touya, what just happened?" Hikaru asked, crawling towards his kitten. Kira was looking proud of himself. The little guy walked the rest of the way to him, purring and tail erect. And it was just so odd. He'd never hissed or done anything remotely aggressive looking before. Well, there had been the few times when he'd kick or bit Karu back but…

"Karu was going to pounce on him and he hissed at her."

"Hissed at her?" He scooped his kitten into his arms and looked into the blue eyes. "Who are you and what did you do to my sweet Kira?"

"He's growing up Shindo, sheesh. It's a _good_ thing. That little fury can be vicious you know!" Waya muttered going back to looking at the movies spread out in front of him. "In a way," He started a couple minutes later while Hikaru was still looking Kira over to find _some_ kind of explanation. "He's acting more like Touya. I could never really see the similarities between Kira and Touya the way I could with you and Karu. Never could imagine Touya just taking that kind of abuse, especially from you." Waya offered a grin to Touya who had the strangest look on his face. It was that look alone that kept Hikaru from leaping down his friend's throat and start bickering with him about the injustice in all those comments. Calling Karu a little fury, a vicious one at that and then saying how similar the two of them were…Jerk. "What? I didn't insult you there, did I?"

"…no." Touya started, pushing a strand of hair back behind his ear. "It's just…I'm not sure you're entirely correct."

"Huh?" Hikaru and Waya looked at each briefly before turning back to Touya for further explanation. If anything the taller man seemed to retreat into the couch as if he could blend into the background.

"It's nothing."

"Uh-huh. Can't pull that one on us now!" Waya shook his head with emphasis.

"Waya!" Isumi hissed.

"Don't tell me you're not curious!" He muttered back.

"It's nothing. Really." End of discussion. Hikaru sighed and almost wished, for a millisecond, that Ashiwara and Ogata-san were here. As creepy and awkward as that would make it, they'd know exactly what Touya meant and Ashiwara would probably have been more than happy to spill the beans. He sat back, still cradling Kira to his chest and tried to imagine what it could be. Isumi sighed as if the answer was so obvious he just couldn't understand how the other two could not see it. Another question he'd have to remember to ask Isumi then. He filed it away and stood up to make his way to the couch. He settled close to his rival and let Waya and Isumi choose the movie.

A/N-I first wanted to apologize for the slow updates. Second, I want to explain that updates will probably continue to be slow. I apparently have either tendonitis or the start of carpal tunnel in both of my wrists. The pain started late July but I continued to write… However, with the start of the new semester the pain got to be a little too much to handle. I've been getting treatment for it but the biggest thing I can do to help myself is to decrease my time on the computer, drawing and basically whatever activity that needs the use of my hands. This is killing me cause writing and drawing our my passion.

Anywho, please don't think I've given up on this story or any of my other ones. I haven't. I've just been _trying_ to follow the doctor's orders. Hope all of you are well. Yuimag


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats_

—_English proverb_

"What's bothering you?" Waya asked, a slightly exasperated look causing a frown to cross his face as he let the younger man in. Hikaru hadn't even had the time to toe his shoes off let alone say hello. How the hell had the other picked up on his mood that fast? He glared at the redhead and shrugged.

"Nothing! I just got here." He grumbled, shoving his one sneaker off and kicking it towards the other shoes that were all neatly lined up. Waya followed the motion with an arched eyebrow.

"Ri-ight." He muttered showing how unconvinced he was of that fact. He refrained rolling his eyes; Hikaru could be a bit too exasperating at times to deal with. Though the younger man had dropped that weird habit of talking to himself a couple years ago, he still continued to have the weirdest mood swings. However, his recent mood swings could usually be pinned on what was going on with Touya Akira. Or even the coming of the month of May.

Waya wracked his brain as to what could cause his friend to be grumpy looking but came up blank. Nothing stood out to him at all. Movie night had gone relatively well despite the pizza fiasco with that little fur-balled idge and the fact that Touya had been clearly bored to tears. That had been amusing actually, Touya trying to be polite and all but not being able to hide how disinterested he'd been at watching Charlie's Angels. When the movie had finished and they (he and Hikaru really) had excitedly decided that they'd do movie night on a weekly basis, the look of horror that had been noticeable for a short period of time on Touya's face had been priceless. Simply priceless. The memory brought a smile to his face for a second before he heard Hikaru sigh. "Okay, seriously. What's up?"

"Really, its nothing." The answer reminded him of Touya. It took him a minute to realize why though and for a split second the realization was overpowered by the fear that Hikaru was turning him as Touya-obsessed as he was. S-C-A-R-Y! He shivered and decided it was time to get to the bottom of this mystery. Even if it was for the simple fact that they could move on and think or discuss something not Touya related.

"That's what Touya said last night and clearly it wasn't nothing…" He trailed off as his friend's expression turned darker. Apparently, without meaning to, he'd hit the problem on the head.

"Yeah. Well, he was allowed to not say anything more about it so," Hikaru made a motion with his hands as if he was waving the subject completely aside. The look on his face expressed how happy he was with _that_ situation. Waya could only drudge up a small hint of curiosity on the subject but he figured it was the opposite for Hikaru. Was that really what was eating him? He sighed and shoved his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants.

"Isumi seemed to know what it was about. Ask him."

"I want to." Hikaru started. "I just haven't had the chance."

"Waya? Shindo? What's taking the two of you so long? Morishita-sensei is starting to wonder…" Isumi trailed off as the two shorter go players turned to him as one.

"Perfect timing, 'Sumi. Shindo has a question for you." Waya shoved the younger man in front of him, grinning at the yelp that caused. Isumi instinctively went to grab Hikaru's shoulders just in case the other completely lost his balance. He was barely thanked for his thoughtful gesture. The younger man was already turning to growl at the redhead.

"A question?" Isumi asked quickly before Hikaru and Waya started bickering. Those two—he shook his head inwardly—they never grew up. He'd thought they'd had and well… He sighed. Oh well, better this than when they weren't speaking to each other.

"It's stupid. We can talk about it later." Hikaru mumbled, glaring at Waya from the side.

"Oh? You sure?"

"Yes." Hikaru gritted out at the same times as Waya chirped an amused "No."

"Uhm?" Isumi started wearily glancing between the two of them. After a glaring game that didn't last as long as it felt it did, Hikaru sighed.

"I don't even know how to ask this." Hikaru paused, fiddling with his backpack as he shrugged it off and threw it to where his shoes were. "What was up with Touya last night? You seemed to know…and I don't get it at all." The way Hikaru phrased it; Waya suddenly realized how frustrating that must feel. To be somebody's rival, roommate, secret crush, and have someone else understand him better… He looked at Isumi to see how his friend would respond. The taller man had his head tilted to one side, mouth slightly open in surprise.

"Oh." He shifted his weight a bit nervously. "I really do think it'd be best for you to talk to Touya about that Shindo. I mean, all I can do is guess at what it could be. But," He shrugged nervously at the look Hikaru was gracing him with. A mixture of frustration, annoyance, and pleading. "I think he was just referencing to the fact that he's shy or was."

"Shy!?" Waya and Hikaru sputtered at the same time. They glanced at each other, sharing their incredulity. "Shy?" Hikaru repeated the word. "Touya has never been shy around me!" He exclaimed finally.

"And never around anyone else for that matter." Waya added his two cents in. Shy? No way. The guy was too sure of himself to be shy.

"You two have only seen the Go player Touya! And anyway you don't have to take my word for it!" Isumi took a step back. "You asked what I thought, that's what I thought."

"You're crazy." Waya muttered.

"I hope you're all planning an amazing fool proof game against this Touya Akira to ensure that you beat him with the amount of time it's taking the three of you to join the rest of the study group." Morishita-sensei's voice broke through and doused all of them with what felt like cold water. Hikaru straightened nervously as Waya nearly jumped to where his teacher was, and Isumi simply sighed in relief weirdly enough. It was enough to further convince Waya that Isumi was truly insane. He wondered why he'd never noticed before. His teacher's glare was enough to make that thought wither away.

"We were, we were." He stammered. "In fact we were just discussing how we could use his uhm… shyness," He stumbled over the word and shot another weirded look at Isumi. "to our advantage. What do you think sensei?" The older man blinked.

"You know I don't approve of mind games." He rubbed his chin, starting to turn slowly away from them and back to the main room. "However..." The rest was mumbled, their sensei lost in his thoughts and plottings on how to finally beat the _Touya_ group. His inattention allowed Hikaru to catch up to Waya, elbow him, and mouth the words 'what were you thinking?!'

"Sensei?" Isumi started. "Do you think Touya is shy?" He asked, glaring back at Waya. He couldn't help it. Waya _always_ managed to get him to act a bit immature. But then again, no one ever noticed because of how Waya and Shindo acted. Compared to them, he would always be the older, more mature, and sensible Isumi.

"Hm?" He made a slightly startled noise and glanced back at the three—boys to him really—and nodded. "You could say he is. He's much better than when he was younger." He chuckled at the look those wide eyes awarded him. "Touya was so shy I didn't even know he could speak until he was oh…six or something. It was a rarity if you could get a word from him let alone get him to come out from behind his mother's skirt at that time. Of course, that was off the go board. On it, he was a little demon. Just like his father…" The man shook his head, a frown coming to crease the wrinkled face once more.

The rest of the study session remained a quiet affair for the youngsters of the group as one of them mulled over the information concerning his longtime rival, one continued to stew in disbelief, and the last remained slightly smug at being right.

….…

Hours later, the three stretched and put their shoes back on. Waya rolled his shoulders a couple of times before coming to lean on the wall as he waited for the other two to be done. "You guys hungry?" He asked, ending the question with a yawn.

"Yes." Hikaru responded and without skipping a beat, added the last bit. "Ramen." He grinned over to the redhead, finishing tying his sneakers. The redhead opened his mouth and shut it with a decided snap. He sighed.

"Damn it. I can't believe you beat me to it." Hikaru laughed at that and grabbed his backpack before shrugging it on one shoulder.

"I'm hungry and we've had this argument way too many times." He stood up straight and glanced back at an amused looking Isumi. "Ramen _is_ all right, ne Isumi?"

"Love it. Isumi gets his say while I'm just ignored." Waya grumbled before Isumi had a chance to answer.

"Ignore you? How? You never stop." Hikaru muttered back, teasing smile on his face. Isumi decided that he would open the door and start walking out before the two really got at each other's jugulars. The two followed promptly, all three of them falling into a comfortable pace. They made their way to the ramen shop where Isumi was slightly embarrassed to find that they had become known as _the_ customers. They definitely did come here too often. Everyone who worked there knew them, recognized them on site, and knew their tastes… As the door closed behind them, the cook looked up and a huge smile split across his face. He quickly waved them in.

"Your regulars?" He called out. "Or is today a special?" A special was what the cook had started to call the very rare occasions that they tried a new type of ramen. Hikaru smiled and grabbed the menu, casting a quick look at it before shrugging.

"Regular."

"Regular." Waya sighed. "And Isumi is definitely a regular too." He added, answering for Isumi in a way that was completely second nature to him. The cook laughed at them, used to their antics, and disappeared into the kitchen. "So," Waya muttered as he shifted enough that he was slumping in his seat in a comfortable slouch. Isumi bumped shoulders with him, smiling before straightening his own posture up a bit. The redhead merely gave him a look before clearing his throat and continuing on with his previous thoughts. "Are you feeling better? Have your questions been answered?"

"Uhm." Hikaru blinked at his friend.

"Waya." Isumi started to admonish him.

"What? Need to make sure to clear the air and then we can move on…"

"We?" Hikaru asked, torn between being amused, happy to have friends that were so concerned for him, and slightly annoyed at the pushy redhead.

"Yeah. You're moody." Waya muttered with a huge smile and a wink. "No offence or anything but you are." Hikaru scoffed.

"And you aren't?"

"Please," Isumi cut in. People were starting to stare at them. Some of the customers knew them and simply hid a smile before turning back to their meals. Others however, stared with widening eyes. "Both of you. Its like the pot calling the kettle black." He sighed. "You're both moody!" His exasperated and slightly pained sounding voice made the two younger boys laugh after sharing a knowing look between the two of them. Next time, Isumi thought a bit tiredly, he was making sure Touya was with them. At least then he could have someone who would understand his plight. When the two were finally done, their ramen bowls were ready for them and the steamy bowls captured their attention. Hikaru slurped his down at a pace that was too fast to even fathom and ordered his usual second. As he waited, he twirled his chopsticks giving them an unusual amount of attention. He clicked them on the table and then gave sheepish grin.

"Actually Isumi…" His tone made the older boy pause and swallow what he'd been chewing carefully. He glanced at the younger pro and wondered what would be coming next. "I did have another question."

"Hah! I knew it." Waya muttered with his mouth full. Hikaru ignored that comment and continued. Isumi's heart sank and wondered when exactly he'd been appointed as the Touya expert.

"This came from a conversation a long time ago…" He paused and gave a little scowl. "Do you have any idea why Touya would say he'd never be a father? He said something about how it wouldn't be fair to them." The question hadn't been what Waya had expected and he choked on his ramen. How he had any expectation where it concerned Shindo and Touya was beyond Isumi. Really…those two were the MOST random individuals he'd ever met. Well, Shindo more so than Touya but the two together? He shook his head.

"Shindo…" Isumi started, knowing his eyes were beyond wide.

"Dude." Waya cut in, gasping for air. "If he's anything like you, there won't be any kids in the future." Hikaru turned bright red, eyes wide. Apparently, that possibility hadn't even occurred to him. Before the poor boy could even adjust to that particular realization, Waya continued, ignoring Isumi's ineffective waves signaling that they should bring the volume of this conversation down. "And why the hell were you having that kind of conversation with him anyway? I mean…" Waya looked a bit lost. "_I_ don't _even_ know that about _Isumi_!" At that, amber eyes flashed towards him. "And to tell you the truth, I don't think I want to at this point. We're… we're… god… we're still teenagers! Can you imagine marriage, kids, and the rest…" Isumi stilled at the panicky look that crossed his best friend's face. It was sort of funny, sort of cute.

"It's ok Waya. No one's proposed to you yet. I think you're still safe." He teased quietly, nudging him slightly. "And I'm still very much single. So no marriage or kids in the horizon for me as well. But if you want to know…" He paused for effect taking in the VERY BIG widening of eyes that were looking at him. It was hard not to burst out laughing. "I wouldn't mind a family of four." 'Four' Waya mouthed and shook his head. He turned back to his ramen and took a big swallow, still shaking his head. In the mean time, Shindo simply rested his head on his hand.

"Four? You, the wife, and two kids? Boys, girls, or both?"

"Why are we having this conversation?" Waya's voice cracked. "I thought I had clearly stated that I didn't want to know! We're too young. No kids. They smell. They're scary…"

"We're getting off topic." Isumi decided to save Waya from the apparent agony. He hid his smile behind a hand and took a breath before trying to answer Shindo's original question. "Seriously Shindo, I have no idea about Touya." He didn't really understand why Shindo had even thought he would know. "Does he like children?" He tried vainly only because of how down the other boy looked at his previous response. Shindo nodded, looking slightly glum.

"Is there a reason why you can't ask him?" Waya asked, sounding calmer and being very reasonable about the situation considering.

"I…" Shindo paused as his second bowl came and he nodded his thanks before digging his chopsticks in. "Its just that he looked sad when he said it. And I can't understand it…" There was a pause and Isumi could tell that Waya was battling with staying serious since Shindo was being incredibly serious and saying something that was most likely hilarious but very rude. He braced himself for the latter.

"Maybe," Waya finally muttered face very pinched. "Maybe he's sterile?" Isumi felt like hitting his head on the table. He elbowed his friend instead at the same time as Shindo, flushed in anger this time and not embarrassment, kicked him underneath the table. Hissing through pain, the redhead could only stammer a curse and a stuttered apology. "I was friggin' joking!"

"Not funny." His words really didn't need to be heard, Shindo's dark scowl was answer enough.

To be continued…

A/N- ah, what to say? I'm back, alive, and kicking (or should I say I'm back and typing…) I'll try and update soon, the next chapter is already partially written. My own cat is giving me plenty of ideas and stories to continue this fic with. And I'm sorry Touya Akira will make his appearance along with Kira and Karu in the next chappie!!!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats_

—_Albert Schweitzer_

Waya was stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He slammed the apartment door behind him, face still set in a scowl.

"Hello…" Touya's voice was slightly hesitant. "Are you all right?" His poor rival had been studying apparently before his loud entrance had disrupted his thinking. The taller of the two pushed his shoulder length hair behind his ear. The movement was slightly nervous. Strange but now that Isumi had pointed it out, he could see the shyness. A bit. The thought brought him back to why he'd been angry at Waya in the first place. He felt his face heat up and his scowl deepened.

"Yeah." Stupid Waya.

"Really." Touya didn't sound convinced at all. "You ate right?"

"Yes." He muttered, toeing his shoes off. Kira came and nudged his hand with his wet nose. He picked his kitten up, tucking him under his chin. The soft fur and the rumbling purrs were comforting.

"Sushi?" The gentle inquiry made him look back towards his rival. Why did the other man care for god's sake?

"Ramen." Touya nodded slowly, puzzled frown pinching his features slightly. He seemed a bit lost and gave a quick glance back at the kifu he'd been looking at. The answer wouldn't be found there though. Karu jumped from the table where she'd been resting to Touya's shoulder. She purred, her eyes closing and opening slowly towards him. Hikaru supposed that it was her way of greeting him. "You?"

"Excuse me?" Touya blinked at him, confused at what was being asked of him.

"Did you have a good day?" He clarified, moving towards the kitchen table. He settled at his chair, reaching for the kifu with his free hand. He gave it a cursory glance but was distracted as Kira kept bumping his head against his chin. Where Karu would meow and bat at your face or hands with her paws until she got what she wanted, Kira would either gently wait or simply nudge you with his face. And here was the prime example. He began scratching his kitten under his chin.

"Yes, thank you." Touya answered quietly before sitting back down in his chair, making sure to do it slowly so as to not unbalance Karu. The rivals stayed in silence for a bit—Touya ignoring the fact that Hikaru kept stealing glances at him and Hikaru trying to get rid of Waya's words that were currently ringing in his head. Finally, Touya sighed. "What is it?" What was this, Hikaru thought a bit startled, was he a freaking open book? It seemed like everyone could see right through him and that the only thing he could keep a secret was friggin Sai! And even there, he thought a bit sourly, Touya had come pretty close to guessing the truth one or two times. He was sure it was only because Touya was too rational, too stuck in common sense, and too much of an adult really that he hadn't just stuck with his gut reaction of thinking that Sai was a ghost.

"Are you sterile?" The question slipped out of him and he hit his mouth the moment the meaning of his own words clicked in his head. Oh my god. He had not just said that! He had not just asked that! Stupid Waya! He was gonna kill that guy tomorrow. That is… he thought a bit weakly…if he wasn't dead. Touya blinked at him, his mouth opening and closing slowly. The incredulous look on his face would have been comical except, except… Two red spots suddenly colored his rivals cheeks.

"I…Shindo… What the hell?" The hesitant voice changed to a roar. "What kind of a question is that?!"

Karu squeaked while Kira bolted. So fast and in such a panic that Hikaru could only rub at his throat and upper chest where he'd just been gauged by the claws that had pushed off of him. Damn it!

"I just…" He started, his voice cracking. "I just don't understand why you said what you did!"

"What the hell did I ever say to you that would ever make you think that I was sterile?!" Touya demanded, green eyes flashing dangerously towards him.

"I didn't think you were!" Hikaru sputtered defensively, the volume of his response starting to creep up to match his rival's. "It was stupid Waya! And it wouldn't even have come up if you weren't such a damn enigma all the time!"

"Waya? Enigma? Me? I'm the enigma? Oh coming from you that's rich!" Karu decided it was time to follow her brother's quick escape and just jumped off her perch, slid on the kitchen floor and scrabbled about to get her legs beneath her so she could run very far away from the brewing argument. It was their first in the apartment. Their first in a long while. "You're the one who hides…"

"This isn't about me! And don't you fucking bring up Sai!" He'd literally seen his mentor's name about to be pronounced and he'd attacked before it could come crashing on him. "You don't wanna tell me anything about yourself, fine!" He'd made his way partially away from the table when a hand gripped his arm. "Let go Touya!"

"No. You don't have the right to just…_say_…something like that and expect me to just understand where you're coming from." Touya hissed and then let go of his arm. He took a step back and took a breath. "I promised I wouldn't bring up Sai until you were ready." His voice was calmer. "I won't." He leaned back towards the table, letting it take most of his weight. "I don't know what you want from me Shindo. And I really don't understand what it is I could have said that would have brought about this… this…" He floundered on his next word. It probably wasn't polite and Hikaru felt something inside of him drain at the sight of his rival looking harassed and tired. He wasn't being fair. He knew he wasn't. He was the one that had messed up, that was pushy…

"I'm sorry." Hikaru started slowly. "Its none of my business. It's just…" Just what? Just that he wanted to know? It wasn't blatant curiosity. He was concerned. And it was hard.

"Just what?" Touya asked, voice slightly gruff but still low.

"You looked upset that one time…when we talked about how good you'd be with kids and I didn't understand. That's all. It's stupid." It was _not_ what Touya had been expecting and he sat down on the kitchen chair with a dull thud.

"Shindo…" He started weakly. "We had that conversation ages ago. It's been bothering you for that long?" He shrugged as an answer; he didn't really know what else to say. Touya shook his head. "Shindo, I said what I said because…I know myself. I know that I would put go first no matter how much I cared about them and it simply wouldn't be fair to them. I," He hesitated before going on. "I was lucky enough to want to follow my father's footsteps, to actually love go as much as he did…but this isn't a genetic trait. I wouldn't want any child who wouldn't understand that to feel like they didn't matter or that they were second best." He finished weakly. "I know that might sound strange but…I just wouldn't want to take that chance."

…

The truth of it, Akira contemplated as he waited for some sort of reaction from his rival, and he'd die before admitting it to anyone but his love for go wasn't truly as pure as some people made it out to be. It had started out simply because he'd wanted his father's attention. He'd realized very early on that the one thing that could catch and hold his father's attention was this intricate game of black and white stones, creating a universe of patterns on the wooden board that he hadn't been able to comprehend at that time.

He still remembered his first time, letting go of his mother's soft and warm skirt that he'd been clutching tightly and gently making his way towards the goban…he'd reached for the stones that were still laying on its' surface despite the fact that all their guests had already left (the group study sessions had already been in practice years before he'd been born) and had stilled at his father's intake of air. When no rebuking words followed the breath, Akira had taken his wavering courage and gently touched a black stone. "Play?" He'd asked shyly.

The look of pure pride and warmth that had flashed in his father's face that night was something he couldn't forget and wouldn't let go of. So slowly and surely, he learned and conquered the game and along the way—his need for his father's attention—his father's approval turned into a love of the game. It wasn't always love, sometimes it was his own rival—just as real as the rival Shindo was to him…except Shindo had never taken his father from him.

Those were the times when he had hated go. When his father started seeing him as a potential rival first and a son second. When his father had a heart attack and still wouldn't (couldn't?) stop playing. When his father left Japan and went to China to continue his growth and never even once stopped to think if Akira was ready for such a move, if Akira was ready to leave the nest… Yes. He loved it and hated it. And he never ever wanted such a life for another child.

It was an indefinable thought, a lingering scar of his own childhood that had bordered too close to neglect…

Shindo kept looking at him with such an open expression that every emotion seemed to scream back at him. It made him nervous and feeling very vulnerable. Like perhaps he'd given a hint of the feelings and memories he'd locked within him deep inside. It almost made him wish that he and his rival were back to screaming at each other instead of just sitting in this interminable silence.

"I…I don't even know where to start." Shindo started finally. "You're an idiot you know that?" He blinked at that. It wasn't what he had expected, especially with Shindo's current kicked puppy face staring back at him. "A complete and utter idiot." He opened his mouth to retaliate but closed it with a snap when Shindo punched him on his upper arm.

"Ow! What the—?" Akira demanded rubbing at it. Shindo cracked a sad little smile and shrugged.

"It's what Waya does when he thinks I need cheering up." He paused. "Be honest, did that actually help you?"

"I didn't need cheering up and that's possibly the most uncivilized, brutish way of going about it." Akira pointed out finally.

"Hmm…" A mischievous glint washed away the previous sadness that had been dominating those green eyes as Shindo tilted his head in mock pensiveness. "I don't know…" He drawled out. "It seemed to work." Akira blinked at him and shook his head.

"Somehow, I think the only idiot present is you." Before Shindo could retaliate, he quickly added. "Anything else bothering you that I should know about? Any other insane theory Waya concocted that's addled your brain?"

"Hey now!" Shindo looked ready to defend his redheaded friend.

"Sterility? Hitting to cheer up someone?" Akira grumbled. He watched as the unspoken defenses crumbled right in front of his eyes. "I rest my case."

"Oh shut up. I promise to never go back to him with my questions. That good?"

"I suppose…"

"Game?"

"Please."

…

The next few days passed by them in a blur as they tried to figure out the pros and cons of moving to a slightly larger apartment. The most obvious cons were the increase in rent, the physical work, and the chaos that always came with the actual moving. The pros, some of which had taken Hikaru aback, was a room they could each use to teach their students to. An office space. He'd never had one before and it was an intriguing prospect. He'd never thought of what his taking up space would cause to Touya's usual organization. And of course what was becoming the most POSITIVE of the POSITIVES was just more room for the two growing kittens to play around and hide in the nooks and crannies.

Karu especially needed more room. She'd started getting bored with her 'home', with her brother, and with her human beings gone more than usual. Because of this, she'd started meowing at the top of her lungs at random times during the night. As if she was checking if everyone was still home and couldn't they just come out and play with her instead of sleep?

The first night it had happened, Hikaru had yelled at her when he'd cracked his eye open for what felt like the thousandths of time and realized it was 3 freaking am. Touya had then opened his room and asked him if he was insane. All in all, it had not gone well. 3 fucking A. M. was NEVER a good time to be lectured on animal training.

The second night, he'd tried his hardest to ignore it all just like Mr. Know it all—Touya Akira—had told him to. It had… failed to say the least. He'd finally given up on getting any sleep and reviewed two games before passing out on his go board. Touya had to hide a smile at the go stone imprinted in his cheek and his freaking out at all the drool that had gotten on his board. He hadn't found it amusing at all.

The third night, he locked Karu in the bathroom. Not only did that not do anything to decrease the noise coming from those annoyingly loud little lungs, it got Kira on his case too! Kira had spent the majority of the night scratching at the bathroom door, making pitiful noises as if trying to reach his sister and let her know that he had nothing to do with this treatment. Touya, who was still sticking by his animal training, ignored the noise blissfully unaware as to what Hikaru had actually done. When he woke up to discover his cat swimming in the toilet and their towels soiled with feces and urine… well, Hikaru shuddered at the memory. It hadn't been pretty and he hoped never to see Touya get that angry EVER again.

Never.

Ever.

As a peace offering, he called the vet in desperation for a cure, medicine, ANYTHING damn it! As he talked and explained the situation, Karu blinked sleepy eyes at him before batting at his foot. He tried to shoo her away and scowl at her. It only caused her to play and pounce harder. He was very tempted to put the phone down and bark at the silly creature.

The vet had sounded unconcerned and had asked him a series of questions: had their schedules changed, did they have enough toys, how many hours did they spend playing with each of the kittens, would they be willing to getting another cat, and so on and so forth. His answers only resulted in the following diagnosis. Karu had separation anxiety and their ever growing hectic schedule caused them to stay too long away from the home.

"What do we do?" Hikaru pleaded on the phone. "We haven't slept in three days!" He had mentioned this fact once, twice, three times, or more. It didn't seem to be connecting with her. He'd stopped counting and was convinced that their vet did not appreciate their lack of sleep. "Is there a medicine to keep her less anxious? A sleeping pill?" Their vet sounded affronted at the suggestion and Hikaru pulled the phone away from his ear. "We have more than enough toys for them though!" He started up again once the woman had stopped talking to get her breath back. "Our apartment floor is littered with them." And it was the truth, much to Touya's growing irritation. "And we cannot get another cat! My roommate is going to kill me!" He was so so dead. As if to add to his bad luck, somebody knocked at the door. "Ok well. I have to go. Thank you for your time." Unhelpful… Quack! Hikaru mentally grumbled. He hung up the phone and opened the door. "Who—mom?"

"Hello, I thought I'd stop by." She looked at him with a concerned smile. "Have you been sleeping well?" He pushed the door opened wider and then fell into her arms with a croaked sob. "Hikaru!" He would _not_ cry! Damn it! "Oh dear." His mother gently patted his back.

"Thank god you're here!" He muttered into her shoulder. "I don't know what to do!"

"Did you and Touya-kun get into a fight?" She asked softly, pushing him away slightly to wipe at his face before leading him towards the living room. He shook his head and then nodded and then shrugged.

"Yes. No. Not really. It's… complicated."

"I see."

"It's Karu, she's got separation anxiety and she's kept us up all night—THREE of them in a row—by meowing and nothing we do works!" His mother blinked at his outburst.

"Karu?" She repeated slowly, looking down at the innocent and cute looking ball of fur that was currently rubbing herself something silly around his mother's legs. Kira it should be noted was sleeping in Touya's room. The poor little guy was also sleep deprived. He watched as his mother gently gave the kitten a caress before turning her attention back towards him.

"I've called the vet and she's making it sound like we don't have enough toys for them and that its our fault for being gone all day long and…and…" His mother hummed softly, tapping her chin.

"You know," She said finally. "When you were little, you did a rather similar thing as well. You must have been two at that time." Her smile caused the corner of her eyes to wrinkle slightly. "You refused to take naps and would keep your father and I up with the most outrageous demands."

"What did you do?" And god help him but he was NOT going to be sharing this story with ANYONE. He didn't need any more proof that this cat was like him in personality.

"We bought earplugs." He blinked. And blinked again.

"You what?" He shook his head and was confused as to how he should take_that_ piece of information. "I can't… I mean… huh…I guess we could try that. Wait. Did it work?"

"Oh yes. After a couple days of us not reacting to your tantrums you became an angel again." He ignored his mother's term of angel in describing him and glared hard at Karu. So apparently this whole ignoring—positive and negative reinforcement—punishment—animal training that Touya kept spouting had some merits to it.

"But it takes a couple of days?" He moaned. He didn't know if he could live through a couple more days without sleep. Although he supposed the earplugs would muffle the noise so it wouldn't be that bad. He thought some more, multiple possibilities running in and out of his mind.

For one, the new apartment solution was looking better and better. They could just place the litter box in the study and shut both the cats in there during the night. Make the study be the room furthest away from their bedrooms. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the floor plan.

"Hikaru," His mother interrupted his thoughts. He opened his eyes to see his mother on her hands and knees playing with Karu on the ground. "Have you ever thought of taking them out on a walk? Our neighbor, you remember her right? Well she takes her cats on walks and it just tires them right out…" He let her words pass by him. He needed to talk to Touya and show him that he had some better thought out solutions. Maybe his rival wouldn't kill him…completely…

…

Akira rubbed at his temple as Shindo continued to speak at a pace that simply was _not_ human. Behind him, Waya snorted. Waya, Isumi, and he had barely come back from the Go institute before Hikaru had pounced on him along with Karu. The kitten was sleepily resting in his arms, purring her little head off. Kira was watching them from the floor.

"Take a cat for a walk?" The redhead asked. "No offense to your mom but…"

"Shut up Waya. It _is_ a good idea." Shindo muttered not allowing his friend to finish. "And not only could we do that but we have some other options. Here." He shoved a bag at Akira who startled along with Karu (who no longer purred at this plastic intrusion) and nearly dropped it on the floor. Not like Shindo would notice in his manic or whatever state he'd gotten himself into. Karu sniffed and moved to perch on his shoulder, snuggling into his neck. "I got the cats' leashes and some earplugs for us. We could also keep the television on when we're gone." His previous thought that maybe Shindo hadn't lost ALL his brain cells died at that particular suggestion.

"The television." He repeated flatly.

"Yeah. We could totally leave it on the nature channel." Shindo nodded to himself with a proud little smile. "That one I thought of by myself. I mean, you know how much Karu likes watching the bird shows." Oh my god the lack of sleep must have made his rival delusional as well. This was not good. Perhaps they should reschedule movie night. Since when had Karu watched bird shows? He clutched at the bag instead of reaching out to take Shindo's temperature.

"Shindo…" Akira started. Or tried to. Wide grey-green eyes turned to him pleadingly and halted his already troubled thought processes.

"Please say you forgive me for last night! Please!"

"Dude…" Waya sighed. "That is so not the way to get out of the doghouse. Especially with these totally whacked out ideas." Doghouse? What? When did dogs get into this mess? Perhaps he was overly tired as well.

"Waya." Isumi started softly. "Maybe this isn't the best time…" He trailed off. "How about we go get the drinks?" He offered, pulling at the redhead's shoulder. Too soon they were alone, staring at each other.

"Bird shows, Shindo?" He asked gently, finally allowing himself to sit back on their couch, careful to not dislodge his kitten in the process. Shindo quickly followed suit by kneeling on the floor, facing him still. "When has Karu ever…" He trailed off. "I actually don't think I want to know. And stop that."

"Eh?"

"Don't look at me like that." Akira clarified wearily. It really wasn't fair. "I'm no longer angry." He was too tired to be. "I appreciate you trying to come up with solutions and calling our vet. The earplugs will come in handy I'm sure…" Shindo still looked like a kicked puppy. Which reminded him of the doghouse Waya had mentioned absurdly enough. The mental image of his rival with puppy ears and tail sitting forlornly in front of a tiny wooden house alone caused him to smile just a bit. The hint of a smile on his own face caused Shindo's to lighten. He could imagine the tail start to wag hopefully. He reached out carefully causing his rival to tense, eyes wide and patted him on top of head. "Continue being a good boy and maybe you'll be out of the dog house by tonight." He was as shocked as Shindo at the words that slipped out of his mouth. The two blushed and blinked and looked away from each other.

Akira blamed it all on Waya and lack of sleep and hoped Shindo would as well.

To be continued…

A/N- First off thank you for all the good wishes, they made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My wrists usually feel better if I don't push them too much (today is an off day—entirely my fault however so I can't complain). Also, I must apologize for the fact that in the previous chapter I used the term 'idge' which is a term my friends and I use. A made up word idiot fudge together…uhm…but yes. It's simply a cuter term for idiot.  Hope that helps and I hope this chapter was enjoyable. I'll try and update when I can. Thank you for all of your support, it is truly appreciated.

A/N 2- Concerning the separation anxiety bit… I'm living through it or having been living with it since my kitty (of 1 ½ years) has been diagnosed by my own vet. If I work longer hours, I know that I won't sleep that night simply b/c he'll be meowing at my door—wondering why I haven't been there all day to play and cuddle with him. So the pain and desperation that Shindo feels…I've lived through and its definitely NOT an exaggeration! Though I wish it was some days… lol (However, I've never locked my cat in any room where there was no litter box… I follow Touya's methods ALL the way!)


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_Like the cat in the tree, getting caught up in the chase can leave us in an awkward place_

—_Rosicrucian_

Akira sighed as he tried to fight the ever growing entropy that had formerly been _his_ apartment. He picked up the tail of a stuffed mouse that had been resting in Karu's water dish and wrinkled his nose in distaste as liquid from its black dyed fur dripped onto his kitchen floor.

Where to put the dang thing?

He couldn't very well leave it in the water where it would just continue to soak Karu's drinking water and yet he couldn't leave it on the carpet where it would be in the way and leave a distinct wet spot to step on. Karu meowed at him, batting at the droplets of water before hissing as one caught her square on the nose. She immediately started to paw at her nose before turning to give herself an impromptu wash. Her brother trotted over to help her with the task.

He sighed again and wondered if he could get away with throwing the awful thing out. He doubted it. Shindo was still in that slightly manic mood (Akira was starting to be very confident in his theory that it was due to lack of sleep) and trying his best to come up with solutions to the Karu problem. Apparently, the earplugs—which had been god sent for him—only caused Shindo's ear to feel sore in the morning and didn't block out the noise fully enough to be of any help. Who would have figured Shindo Hikaru for a light sleeper?

Akira shook his head and made a mental note to get Kira and Karu their own toy box, plastic preferably so it wouldn't matter how wet some of the toys were. In the mean time, he turned to his cabinet and removed a Tupperware to place the dratted thing in there until it dried.

"No more toys in water, Karu." Akira muttered absently. At the sound of her name the kitten paused in her washing and meowed back. He arched an eyebrow at that before moving onto the living room. He still had a whole invasion of cat toys to clean up and this being his only free afternoon for the next two weeks, he had to take the opportunity to get as much done.

Preferably before his rival came home.

For a moment he stared at the room feeling a bit lost. He didn't even know where to start. He sighed and decided that it wouldn't do him any good at pondering that for too long and in the end as long as he started _somewhere_ it would be an improvement. He bent to pick up a pillow and place it back on the sofa but hesitated mid motion. His hands tightened on it for a moment before he sighed again, stuffing it back on one corner more roughly than he would have normally.

Movie nights…had become a regular event in his apartment now. It was…strange. Akira shook his head. Thinking about _that_ for too long wouldn't do him any good either. Still, it didn't stop him from remembering how tired his rival had been last night and how despite his claims that he was fine, it hadn't been long before the idiot had fallen sound asleep against Akira's shoulder. The movie—which had been dull to begin with—had lost any of its appeal right then and there. All he could really remember was his rival's weight pressing against him, the comfortable warmth radiating beside him, and the inevitable loss of feeling in his arm due to lack of blood circulation. The pins and needles that had followed when the movie _finally_ (yet still too soon) ended had not been as pleasant. But at least Shindo had gotten some sleep.

He wondered if that would become part of the ritual as well.

The thought left him a bit perplexed, feeling a bit lost in his living room while his body continued on auto-pilot. He stayed that way for quite awhile until Karu came and successfully climbed up to his shoulder without him intercepting her. She then quite confidently nudged his cheek with her face, demanding his attention.

Apparently, it was dinner time.

He sighed and straightened up, placing his kitten back down on the ground before walking to the kitchen.

…

Hikaru ran the last block to the apartment building, smile tugging at his lips despite his bad luck at having been caught in this god awful downpour. Just as he reached the door, it was opened. The apartment manager looked at him with a downright horrified expression on his wrinkled face.

"Shindo-san," He started and shook his head, letting the door close behind the younger man. The older man shooed away the warm hello Hikaru had been about to say "Please go change into dry clothes at once!"

"Oy! Ojii-san…I'm," fine was what he tried to say but he was shoved from the back towards the stairs. In trying to catch his balance, he had to start climbing the first two steps and he could only give the old man a shocked look over his shoulder.

"And next time, do take an umbrella with you!" The apartment manager managed to bark at him. Hikaru could only swallow his startled laugh and nod before continuing to his apartment. Old people were such hens about some things… He opened the door and poked his head in.

"I'm home!" He called out before stepping carefully inside and removing his shoes the best he could. Wet sneakers with wet socks could be a tricky thing to get off.

"Welcome back." He heard Touya respond from the kitchen. "How was your day?" Kira ran up to him then wanting to be picked up and that distracted him from answering Touya right away. The kitten's enthusiastic gait seemed to slow down as he neared him. The kitten's nose actually wrinkled in what looked to be surprised disgust as Hikaru leaned down and picked him up. He had little luck actually holding onto the suddenly slippery feline. Kira was back on the floor, the disgruntled look on his face resembling more an expression Karu would bear. The black bundle of fur turned its back on Hikaru and started to wash.

"Well I see how it is. So much for animals and unconditional love. Get a little wet and it's to the dog house for me…" He snorted slightly amused.

"Shindo? Is everything al—what in all hells are you doing just standing there?" Touya's calm voice was quick to turn into mortified. "You look like a drowned rat! Where was your umbrella? I told you it was going to rain today!"

"And it was way too early in the morning. I wasn't awake-awake to listen to you about the weather." Hikaru responded, grin still in place. "I'm not that bad…" He shoved a hand through his hair and little drops of water fell to the ground.

"Go." Touya started very slowly, voice straining to stay calm. "Take." He was really trying, Hikaru could tell. "A Shower. Right now! And don't drip everywhere while you're at it! I just cleaned this place!"

"You know," He started as he made his way down the short hallway to his room to get some change of clothing. "I take back the comment about you making a good father, you'd make a better housewife." He ended airily.

"Idiot." Touya muttered. "The rain must have washed out what little IQ you had. Now go!" He made a shooing motion which just made Hikaru laugh all that much harder.

To be continued…

A/N- Short chapter I'm sorry! It just felt like a good place to stop for this one but I promise, I'll do better next time. 


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